View Full Version : 1956 NYY World Champion Silver Tea Set, please help!!!
bobcerv
07-20-2012, 05:06 PM
I was hoping someone could tell me what this item is worth and a little more about it! I have tried to research it but there isn't much info on the web for it. My grandfather got this for winning the 1956 World Series with the New York Yankee's. If I remember right the story was he could either get a ring or this and since he had already gotten a ring from them winning a previous World Series he chose this for his wife, my grandmother. I know it was made by a company called Gorham but I can't find much more on it. I have included a few pictures of it. Thanks so much
http://www.melissamidwest.com/gfy/set1.jpg
http://www.melissamidwest.com/gfy/set2.jpg
http://www.melissamidwest.com/gfy/set3.jpg
BigJJ
07-20-2012, 06:01 PM
Very funny and interesting - now that's a good husband!
If that is the only one, or one of very few, and was a team authorized alternative award to the ring - could have real value to those who collect player World Series awards. Like a necessary missing link. and many books and websites would need to be updated to include this championship ring award alternative for the year 1956.
bobcerv
07-20-2012, 06:07 PM
Very funny and interesting - now that's a good husband!
If that is the only one, or one of very few, and was a team authorized alternative gift to the ring - could have real value to those who collect player World Series awards. Like a necessary missing link. and many books and websites would need to be updated to include this championship ring award alternative for the year 1956.
From what my grandfather said not many took this item if any that year! I would like to think I am pretty good at searching the internet but I can't find anything. Thanks for your post!
MGHPro
07-20-2012, 06:31 PM
Great item!
Here's a similar tea set from an AS Game
http://legendaryauctions.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=101682
BigJJ
07-20-2012, 06:35 PM
I cannot find another 1956 World Series Champion tea set example. I do not see Mickey Mantle or Billy Martin going the tea set route, I'm cracking up, I could hear Mantle cursing right now - but I could see Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra, but they did not go that route.
Has anyone seen another of these?
If there are no other exact 1956 tea sets that have sold, I do not think a comparable to this award is out there in terms of another large non-ring YANKEE player World Series Award.
A 1953 Joe Collins ring sold at Heritage for 25K without premium a few years back. If your grandfather had a 1956 ring, would it achieve this price? I think so. I think it would be about 25k. Your grandfather was a player - and contributed a great season in 1956, so I think if the ring were in nice shape, it would be about 25k. (I looked at other auction results as well.) Others may have other opinions regarding the value of such a would-be ring.
I think the 1956 tea set would not be as valuable an item, in my personal opinion. The players wore the rings; more of an everyday connection. And more people collect World Championship rings than all World Champion awards in general. And rings are still in style.
But again, the rarity of this World Series Award, the fact that it may be unique, and a needed example for those who collect all examples of World Series Awards, and such collectors are out there, I would give a value of 10k. But as there are no remote comparables that I can find, it is one of the harder items to value. Others' thoughts?
bobcerv
07-20-2012, 06:39 PM
Great item!
Here's a similar tea set from an AS Game
http://legendaryauctions.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=101682
Wow thank you, this does help me! This is the first time I have seen anything like it anywhere. Still hunting for a Wold Series one but this is a great start.
BigJJ
07-20-2012, 06:55 PM
That All-Star partial tea set is an interesting lot. Although Mantle's, (i) very importantly, does not have the player's name engraved, (ii) is for an All Star game selection, not as collectible as World Series Champion Award, and (iii) is missing the tray, which greatly hurts presentation, and makes the award incomplete. Though it is Mick's - but you would need a piece of paper on display with it for people to know. But it is interesting - and it is Mickey Mantle's.
frankbmd
07-20-2012, 07:03 PM
Your tea service
My Cerv
Your grandfather.
Thanks for sharing.
slidekellyslide
07-20-2012, 08:02 PM
Welcome to the board...Your grandfather used to be my neighbor. A real nice fellow. :)
bobcerv
07-20-2012, 08:21 PM
Welcome to the board...Your grandfather used to be my neighbor. A real nice fellow. :)
Yes he is an amazing guy, the best stories ever! I have collected his stuff for years and when he handed things out I was the only grandchild to get anything since he knew I had been collecting so much. I never knew he would give me anything but I was very lucky. This was the only thing I didn't have a price for. I am trying to insure everything though you can't put a value on family items the company still wanted something to show it's value. I will go with the $10k mark I guess. Thanks everyone for your help!
If it was really given instead of a WS ring, $10,000 sounds reasonable.
sports-rings
07-21-2012, 08:04 AM
I am a collector of superbowl and world series rings. You have hit on the biggest challange ring collectors face - researching what happened or is happening when teams issue rings and awards.
We don't have a text book or comprehensive websites that we can refer to. So much knowledge is gained by research, talking to other collectors and speaking to teams and ring manufacturers. I try and assemble as much information as possible such as pictures, weights, descriptions for each ring that is created.
As an example of undocumented and rare items: I have a '55 brooklyn dodger player ring, as as far as I know, my ring is the only one that was modified (by the player) to include more diamonds than the original design. I have never seen another like this and I have no idea if others exist.
Calls to Balfour (who made all the Yankee rings) and Jostens (who makes many of the superbowl and other world series rings) usually results in being told that the rings were made so long ago, all notes and documentation has been lost. They can be a good resource for rings made in the last twenty years.
So it will be hard to determine how many other tea-sets are out there and sadly, as the price realized in the auction-link shows, such an item would have much less demand than an actual ring from that time period.
Good luck in your quest. Once resource you may want to try is the Yankee stadium museum curator. His name is Brian, I believe, and he has an amazing wealth of information and resources at his disposal.
He may even want to borrow the item and put it in the Yankee stadium museum.
Best of luck,