Summer Premium and Catalog Auction July 31 & Aug 8
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/9/2015
This sublime silver medal prototype – of the kind later given only to players in the event – represents the first staging of the athletic spectacle that has become a world-wide phenomenon. Designed in Milan by Stefano Johnson under commission of the Uruguayan Football Association, it stands not merely for competition in the event, but recognizes a certain degree of success and advancement through its stages. The Uruguayan Coat of Arms appears above a seven-line inscription ("A U de F-1er Campeonato – Mundial – De – Football – Montevideo – 1930") on the reverse of the 28mm, 9.8 gram piece; the obverse depicts an allegorical figure holding a flaming torch above the Tower of Homage at the Centenary Stadium in Montevideo. Apparent EX/MT condition. This is a remarkable foundation piece from the earliest organized activity in what now is the globe's most widely followed sport. The medal is accompanied by an LOA with provenance from the collection and Football Museum of 1930 World Cup player Rony Almeida, and the further notarized acknowledgement that the item resided, "among the belongings of Uruguayan President Gabriel Terra."