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dan hazdaki
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Late indianapolis colts Owner Jim Irsay memorabilia collection The online auction, which ran from Thursday to Saturday with Christie’s, brought in $93,656,609.
Christie’s pre-auction estimate for the items sold in March was $40 million.
While Irsay’s collection was highly music-focused, several notable sporting items were sold: the saddle used by jockey Ron Turcotte while riding Secretariat in the 1973 Triple Crown sold for $1.524 million, the highest price ever sold for a horse racing item; edmonton oilers Jersey Wayne Gretzky scored his 500th NHL goal sells for $952,500; Muhammad Ali’s battle robes from Ali vs. Liston II – his first public appearance after changing his name from Cassius Clay – sold for $444,500; A Jackie Robinson bat from the 1953 season sold for $406,400; And a Mead spiral notebook containing 28 pages of Sylvester Stallone’s original “Rocky” script sold for $508,000.
Julian Pradels, president of Christie’s America, said in a statement, “Irsay’s sale did justice to the talent of the collector and the monumental pieces he brought home, iconic objects that tell the story of our culture and our times.” “The Irsay collection is unique, but Christie’s will have other stunning sales in this area going forward.”
The auction set 23 world records, including the highest payment for a guitar and the highest payment for a literary manuscript: Pink Floyd’s famous black Stratocaster by David Gilmour, which sold for $14.55 million, and the original typescript of writer Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road”, which sold for $12.135 million. (Country music star Zach Bryan purchased the Kerouac scroll and is in the process of converting St. Jean Baptiste Church in Lowell, Massachusetts, into the Jack Kerouac Center.)
Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead’s custom Doug Irwin guitar “Tiger” sold for $11.56 million, while Nirvana’s 1969 Lake Placid blue Fender Mustang for Kurt Cobain fetched $6.907 million. Prior to the Irsay auction, the record payment for a guitar was $6.01 million for Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic-electric used during Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” concert.
According to Christie’s, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the charitable causes supported by Jim Irsay during his lifetime.
Irse Died of a heart attack at the age of 65 in March 2025. is the fbi Investigation into the circumstances of Irsay’s death and the possible connection to his relationship with Dr. Harry Haroutunian, a California addiction specialist who allegedly prescribed Irsay pain pills and ketamine.
