Lot # 9: Circa 1910s Papier Mache Silver King Golf Ball Advertising Figure

Category: Advertising

Starting Bid: $5,000.00

Bids: 1 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Spring 2018 Auction",
which ran from 3/22/2018 3:00 PM to
4/7/2018 8:00 PM



Here he is - The Silver King.

The Silver King is one of golf collecting's Holy Grails. This iconic advertising figure was produced somewhere in the 1910s to 1920s. Silver King was intended to be a counter-top advertising display for a sporting goods store or golf course pro shop that sold Silver King brand golf balls. Surely due to the fact that it is made of papier-mâché, very few original Silver Kings are known to exist.

It has been estimated that up to 15 original papier-mâché Silver Kings have survived, but we dispute that number. If even 10 exist, we would be shocked. Just how rare is Silver King? In April 2014, we sold a Silver King for over $58,000. And even that high number did not result in another Silver King being offered for sale for another 3 years. 

Most existing Silver Kings have undergone a restoration and repaint, though some purists don't like this practice. Offered here is an untouched original Silver King in excellent condition. You may with to keep Silver King in its original state, or should the winner of this great piece wish to fully restore it to original condition, we can pass along the name of one of the best museum restoration specialists in the business.