Pele auctions off memorabilia collection
Legendary Brazilian decides to sell over 2,000 items online as he offers fans and collectors the chance to own a piece of history.
Pele is auctioning off his entire collection of awards and memorabilia, with his winners medal from the 1962 World Cup final fetching £140,800 on Wednesday.
The legendary Brazilian - who was voted Player of the Century by FIFA in 2000 - has arranged for over 2,000 souvenirs he gathered during his distinguished career to be sold online.
That includes all three of his World Cup-winning medals, with each lot given an estimated price of £70,000-£140,000.
The 1962 trinket just cleared the higher end of the estimate but the 1958 version - won when Pele was just a teenager - went for far more than expected on Tuesday, selling for a final fee of £200,000.
The auction for the 1970 medal has yet to close, but a replica of the Jules Rimet trophy is expected to be the most expensive of all the items up for grabs. The starting price was set at £140,000, yet auctioneers Julien's predict it could go for as much as £420,000.
"Having donated a significant portion of my collection to the city of Santos, I have decided to allow fans and collectors to own a piece of my history as well," Pele explained.
"I hope they treasure these artefacts and share my story with their children and generations to come. I will also be donating a portion of the proceeds from the auction to Pequeno Principe, the largest paediatric hospital in Brazil."
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