Circa 1923 Green Bay Packers NFL membership certificate. (Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions)
(WTAQ-WLUK) — The story of the community-owned Green Bay Packers is unrivaled in all of professional sports and the document credited for the franchise’s start in the NFL is currently up for grabs.
“I think it’s probably the most historical document in Packers history,” said Joe Laux, a memorabilia collector from La Crosse, who purchased the Green Bay Football Corporation’s NFL Certificate of Membership.
Laux was the high bidder for the certificate in a 2017 auction, paying about $17,000. It came from former NFL President Joe Carr’s estate and has since been verified by authenticity experts.
“It was our belief that the people who put on the auction didn’t know how valuable of a piece historically this document was,” said Laux.
Packers historian Cliff Christl wrote about the certificate in 2017 when it was first auctioned off, calling it priceless and perhaps the most valuable piece of Packers memorabilia ever sold.
Laux provided the Packers a replica copy of the certificate that is currently on display in the Packers Hall of Fame.
Seven years later, Laux says it’s time for someone else to enjoy the real deal.
Laux was asked if the Packers have approached him at all about obtaining the real certificate.
“No,” said Laux. “The Packers know who I am. I have many items on consignment at the Packers Hall of Fame. We have a great relationship, but they haven’t approached me at all.”
Laux is selling the certificate through Heritage Auctions.
“It’s already surpassed its estimate of $50,000 plus,” said Chris Ivy, Heritage Auctions Director of Sports Auctions. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see it sell for anywhere between $70,000 on the low end and it looks like up to $150,000.”
You might be wondering why the Packers were never in possession of the certificate. Christl speculated in that 2017 article that it was due to safekeeping. He says the team didn’t have an office building in Green Bay until 1949. In 1923, when it’s believed the certificate was issued, the closest thing the Packers had to an office was the front desk at the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Heritage Auctions has previously sold similar certificates for the Baltimore Colts and Dallas Cowboys.
“I have the Vikings franchise certificate also out in my garage,” said Laux. “Packers stuff stays in my house, anything else collectible stays in the garage.”
The next owner of the Packers certificate will be awarded a week from Saturday.
There have been 10 bidders on the certificate so far. The current high bid, with buyer’s premium, is $58,800.
Here’s how the document is described:
We have seen similar certificates for the Baltimore Colts and Dallas Cowboys, signed by NFL commissioners Bert Bell and Pete Rozelle, and while those are likewise great treasures to their respective fanbases, this artifact from the unsteady infancy of the National Football League is undeniably several cuts above those much younger siblings. This certificate presents at a commanding 13.5×16″ in size and offers no real cause for condition complaint, with scattered age-toning but none of the tearing, creasing of chipping common to century-old paper collectibles. It represents ultimate bragging rights for the advanced Green Bay Packers and/or early NFL collector.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, proxy bidding on the certificate reached $49,000.
The auction runs until 10 p.m. August 24.
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