1951 Joe DiMaggio Yankees World Series Ring

How many players in baseball history have won World Series rings in their first and last campaigns? What few there may be would most probably be New York Yankees and the short list would certainly be headed by Joe DiMaggio. The Yankee Clipper played in 11 World Series with the New York Yankees from 1936 to 1951. He was fortunate to amass a collection of World Series rings equaled by few who ever played the game. This is a 10K gold ring with Yankee logo and '1951' on each side, with 'New York Yankees - World Champions' in raised letters around the approximately.25 carat imitation diamond at center top (the original diamond was replaced at some point). 'Joe DiMaggio' is engraved in script on the inside of the band. DiMaggio himself gave this ring to a close friend, who then gave it to his son (who later sold it). The fact that this is a 10K gold ring, as opposed to a 14K gold ring (like most other Yankee rings of the era) leads us to suspect that this may have been a second ring ordered by Joe to give as a gift. Unfortunately, it has been well documented that the rings DiMaggio retained for himself were all stolen from his hotel room decades ago. Therefore, this is, at the very least, the only surviving Joe DiMaggio World Series ring from 1951, and may be the only Joe DiMaggio World Series ring to ever be available to collectors. According to the recently published best selling biography of DiMaggio by Richard Cramer, DiMaggio owned only his 1936 rookie ring upon his passing in 1999. It is interesting to note that the 1951 World Series ring offered in this lot is prominently covered in Cramer's book. According to Cramer, upon learning that Barry Halper had possession of the 1951 ring and was planning to sell it at auction, DiMaggio's longtime lawyer and confident Morris Engelberg requested the return of DiMaggio's 1951 ring to the DiMaggio estate. Engelberg finally abandoned his demands only upon being presented with the letter of authenticity which accompanies the ring from DiMaggio himself, which satisfied him that the ring was not one of DiMaggio's stolen rings and was in fact a gift given long ago personally by Joe. The fact that 1951 was DiMaggio's last year in baseball, his last World Series, and the only year he and Mantle shared the same field, make this ring especially significant. As previously noted, the ring is accompanied by a note, handwritten and signed by DiMaggio, on an index card which reads simply: 'My 1951 World Series ring: (signed) Joe DiMaggio' ('10'). One of the prizes of The Halper Collection. Both the ring and the index card are in Near Mint condition.

Please Note:  the ring size is 11