June 2016 | Rebecca Rego Barry

Muhammad Ali Passport at Auction

Ali Passport.jpgMuhammad Ali, who died on Friday, has, coincidentally, been on my mind for the past few weeks. In preparing an article on collectible passports for our upcoming summer issue, we zeroed in on one very significant passport coming up for sale this week: a replacement passport issued to the three-time heavyweight champion in Dublin, Ireland, on July 19, 1972, the day he defeated Alvin Lewis. Ali used this passport for the next eighteen months, a busy and important period of his professional boxing career.

Interest in this piece of sports history was always going to be strong, and now, it would seem, it will be intense. The passport goes to auction at Bonhams New York on Wednesday, conservatively estimated at $25,000-35,000.     

Look out for the auction's results and more on collectible passports in our summer quarterly.

Image Courtesy of Bonhams.