(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) The Seattle Seahawks will square off against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday. The winner will take home a big chunk of silver.
And it is worth a heck of a lot more than the trophy the Philadelphia Eagles took home last year.
Of course, I’m referring to the Super Bowl trophy. It is formed from about seven pounds of sterling silver.
According to the Sporting News, Tiffany & Co. VP Oscar Riedener sketched out the design for the iconic Lombardi Trophy on the back of a napkin back in 1966.
So, how much is the Lombardi Trophy worth?
Based on the manufacturing costs, the trophy is valued at between $50,000 and $60,000, although it is essentially priceless. It’s not like you’ll find a bunch of Lombardies on eBay. However, it’s not out of the question. Tiffany & Co. produces a new Super Bowl trophy each year. It stays with the team. However, players and coaches can order their own replicas and some of them has showed up on auction sites in the past.
But how much is the real Lombardi Trophy really worth? All of that silver has to have some value, right?
As I mentioned, the trophy is formed out of silver, but it isn’t pure silver like a bullion coin. The Lombardi is fabricated out of sterling silver, an alloy of silver containing 92.5 percent by weight of silver and 7.5 percent by weight of other metals (alloy), usually copper.
The Lombardi Trophy measures 20.75 inches high and weighs seven pounds (3,175 grams). That means, given the current price of silver at $76.50 per ounce ($2.46 per gram), the silver metal melt value of the trophy would be around $7,810.50.
To put that into perspective, when the Philadelphia Eagles hoisted the Lombardi last year, the melt value was just over $2,990.
Now, imagine if the trophy were made of gold. At just over 102 troy ounces, it would be worth over $500,000 at the current gold price.
The first Lombardi was awarded in 1967, and all the Super Bowl trophies have been produced in Tiffany’s hollowware workshop in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
The trophy is hand-crafted, and it takes about 72 total hours of labor. Sterling silver must be heated to over 1,000 degrees to mold it into the trophy’s distinctive shape.
Interestingly, the ball atop the trophy is the same size as a regulation football.
Winning a Lombardi would certainly be cool, but if you want to win a more valuable trophy and a lot more silver, you should take up ice hockey.
The Stanley Cup has an estimated value of $600,000. The cup itself is pure silver, with the base made of sterling. The Stanley Cup weighs in at 34.5 pounds.
And how can you win the most valuable trophy in sports?
Play soccer.
The FIFA World Cup trophy is formed from solid 18-karat gold with a weight of over 11 pounds. The melt value of the gold itself comes in at well over $700,000, but the estimated value of the trophy is over $20 million.
Of course, there is no accounting for the subjective value of a trophy. Ask any hockey player, and they will tell you getting your name etched on the Cup is priceless.
I’ve got bad news for you. You’re probably never going to win a Lombardi, a Stanley Cup, or a FIFA World Cup trophy. I mean, you might. But you probably won’t. It takes tremendous discipline, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears, coupled with good genetics, coaching, and a little luck, to win a championship.
However, you can get gold and silver! So, in that sense, you’re already a champion!
Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.
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