Lelands.com sells Orr jersey for record $179,655

Although Wayne Gretzky owns nearly every NHL record, a Bobby Orr jersey now holds the record for the highest price ever paid for a piece of hockey memorabilia as Lelands.com sold Orr's 1967-68 Bruins home jersey for a record price of $179,655 in the company's Spring 2006 Auction. In addition, a 1970-71 Orr road jersey became the second-highest selling piece of hockey memorabilia at $134,977; in all, four Orr jerseys sold for a whopping $413,980.

The auction, which closed in the early morning hours on April 29, generated $3.32 million in sales from the 1,136 lots.

"When we received these four fantastic items we were confident that collectors would respond for the chance to add such rare items to their collection," said Mike Heffner, president of Lelands.com. "These prices certainly exceeded our expectations and prove that hockey memorabilia is back and hotter than ever."

Lelands.com officials called the record-setting Orr jersey "the finest Orr game-worn jersey ever offered at auction and the earliest all-original Orr jersey known to exist," noting that the Hall of Famer is shown wearing this exact jersey on his first appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated (Dec 11, 1967).

In addition to the record-setting Orr jersey, Lelands.com also sold the second-highest priced football jersey. The 1959 Johnny Unitas jersey fetched a whopping $93,196. Consigned by Romeo Valiente, son of the Baltimore Colts team tailor, the sale price of the Unitas jersey is only topped by the Jim Thorpe Canton Bulldogs jersey, also sold by Lelands.com, which sold for $284,350.

Auction Highlights