Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
A reader seeks the value of what appears to be a 1922 first edition of The Ring boxing magazine.
Question:
I have the ring magazine dated February 15, 1922, copyright 1922, Vol.1, No.1. I have been trying to find a value for this magazine and cannot. I’ve been doing my research of this magazine and could not find out what it’s worth. Could you possibly give me an estimate on how much it is worth?
Answer:
I’ve written several times about The Ring magazine: about five years ago after I first came across the magazine at an auction and a few years later when a reader asked where he could sell his magazines.
As for this reader’s question, I found it surprising that he was not able to turn up any information on a copy with such a pedigree. The first issue of The Ring was published on Feb. 15, 1922, in New York. The magazine was founded by sportswriter Nat Fleischer, along with promoter Tex Rickard and other investors. It began as a boxing and wrestling publication but eventually scuttled wrestling.
The magazine has been a major influence in the industry. It created the first championship belts, annual ratings of fighters, and fighters and prospects of the year.
I searched for the first issue of the magazine by Googling the keywords “1922 Ring magazine,” and found the Boxing Collector News website. The reader did not send me a photo of his magazine, but other websites did have one.
According to the website, The Ring – which is still being published – is the most collected of all boxing magazines. An original Feb. 15, 1922, issue in superb condition could fetch as much as $550. Later editions from the 1920s on could sell for considerably less. The site warned that prices at the high end are hard to come by.
In 2010, bound copies of the magazine from the first edition to 1987 sold in a sports memorabilia auction for $4,125. Another bound collection of 12 magazines from 1922-1923 recently sold on eBay for $599. The International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY, has a complete collection of the magazines.
With this new info, I started to get happy for the reader, but my enthusiasm was tempered as I continued to search. I learned that the Feb. 15, 1922, issue was reprinted in 1990 by Ring magazine for promotional purposes.
A reproduction of the magazine – with the signatures of more contemporary boxers – sold at auction last year for $255. Checking eBay, I found a reprint that sold for $10.51. Another site was selling it for $29.95.
The reader likely has one of those reprints, because originals, I’m sure, are very hard to find. If he wants to have his magazine authenticated, I would suggest he contact auction houses and retail sites that specialize and sell sports memorabilia. He should send them a photo of his issue of the magazine.
