One of the most historical pieces in Packers history is up for auction

GREEN BAY – From a historical standpoint, it might be the most valuable piece of Green Bay Packers memorabilia ever sold.

That’s what Packers historian and former Green Bay Press-Gazette reporter Cliff Christl wrote after a 2017 auction in which the franchise certificate issued to the Packers by the NFL when they became a community-owned team in the early 1920s was bought for $19,550.

It came from the archive of Joe Carr, who was serving as the president of the NFL when the certificate was presented. It also is signed by him, which features a scarce example of his signature.

Packers fans and NFL collectors now have a second chance to own the certificate, which will be auctioned by Heritage Auctions in their Summer Platinum Night Auction that runs Aug. 23-25.

The winner will pay much more for it than the first time it was auctioned, for two big reasons.

The bid, including the buyer’s premium, already has surpassed $27,000.

Perhaps more importantly, everybody now understands what the item is and what it represents.

When the certificate was auctioned at the Super Bowl LI auction in Houston in February 2017, it was clear to some savvy bidders that the auction house putting on the event didn’t realize how historical the document was, in part because it wasn’t dated. The certificate came directly from Carr’s family.

Heritage consignment director Tony Giese, a Wisconsin native who graduated from Coleman High School in 1995 and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2000, was in attendance for the auction and was one of the people who understood the significance of the item and what it represented.

Although he’s a lifelong Packers fan and collector, he didn’t bid on it because his focus is on uniforms and photographs.

“I knew going in what it was,” Giese said. “It wasn’t a surprise or anything like that. One of the big selling points is Joe Carr kept it in his collection, and he kept it with him. He died in 1939, and that he kept it makes it even better. Joe Carr really is the guy who helped the NFL become what it is. If he thought enough of it to keep it, there is a reason he did.”

Although there is no date on the certificate, Heritage said it likely dates to 1923, the year in which the team was rebranded.

The Green Bay Football Cooperation was the start of franchise history, and considering the team remains the only community-owned one in the NFL, the certificate represents its beginnings in a way no other piece of memorabilia does.

“It’s hard to imagine there being any other document or artifact that better symbolizes what this storied franchise is all about,” Christl wrote.

The certificate has an estimate of at least $50,000, but for a historical item in which there only is one, it’s a total guess as to how high it could go.

“I’m not, I think, overstating it saying it’s the most significant piece of Packer memorabilia I’ve ever seen,” Giese said. “There are uniforms of Don Hutson. There are uniforms of Bart Starr. There are pieces that (Vince) Lombardi has worn.

“But this is the piece that actually cemented them as a community-owned franchise, which is so big and has always been talked about through the decades. The only community-owned franchise, the only small market franchise to really survive. This is the document that kind of got them back in the NFL. … They were kind of in limbo for a while. This piece ties the whole organization together and kind of adds a lot of charm.”

One might wonder if the Packers would be interested in buying the item to preserve their own history. A replica of the certificate is on display at the Packers Hall of Fame.

But being a community-owned team, it might be a bit more difficult to do such a thing. While a team owner like Jim Irsay with the Indianapolis Colts is a well-known collector, who exactly foots the bill for the Packers? Who decides what amount to pay?

The Packers did not respond on Monday or Tuesday to a question of whether they’d be interested in the item.

There always is the possibility the Packers get the best of both worlds, one in which they don’t have to buy it but in which the winner of the auction either donates or loans it to the team to put on display.

Several significant items in the Packers Hall of Fame are owned by private collectors who have loaned their prized possessions to the museum.

Source: One of the most historical pieces in Packers history is up for auction