Posted on July 05 2017
Two pieces of Babe Ruth memorabilia sold for big bucks Saturday morning.
A 1927 World Series title ring, attributed to Ruth with "G H Ruth" inscribed inside, sold for $2,093,927, while an original copy of the sale document that sent Ruth from the? Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees?went for $2,303,920 in an auction held by Lelands.com.
The price for the ring is more than four times the record paid for any sports ring at auction. The previous record was Julius Erving's 1974 ABA championship ring, which sold for $460,741 in 2011.
The contract, which sold Ruth to the Yankees in 1919 for $100,000 and a $300,000 loan, brought in more than double what the other original copy sold for in 2005 ($996,000).
Both pieces were owned by actor Charlie Sheen, who bought them in the early 1990s from Josh Evans of Lelands.
In 1993, Evans purchased one copy of the Ruth sale document for $25,000 and auctioned it off for $99,000. Sheen, upset he missed out on the precious piece, convinced Evans to get the other original, owned by famed collector Barry Halper. By then, the price had gone up. Evans bought the second copy for $150,000. Sheen bought both the sale document and the ring for an undisclosed sum.
Sheen told ESPN this week that he didn't remember how much he paid but that he had enjoyed the pieces for more than two decades and felt it was time for a new owner.
It was not immediately known who had purchased the items.
