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The oldest existing version of the FA Cup has become the world's most expensive piece of sporting memorabilia after being sold for a record £420,000.
The sale, at Christie's auction house in London smashed the previous record of £254,000 paid for the Jules Rimet World Cup in 1997.
An added premium took the actual price paid by the unnamed telephone bidder to £478,400, Christie's said.
The solid silver trophy was presented to winning teams between 1896 and 1910.
It was made as a replacement for the first cup, stolen from a shop window after Aston Villa won it a second time. I Its holders have included Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle, Everton and Spurs.
It ceased to be owned by the Football Association after the body realised it did not own the copyright when the holders Manchester United made a replica.
The obsolete cup was then given to Lord Kinnaird to mark his presidency of the FA for more than two decades.
The trophy, the only FA Cup to have come up for sale, was part of a memorabilia auction that also included Alan Ball's 1966 World Cup winners' medal. It is thought to be the oldest FA Cup still in existence as the stolen original was likely to have been melted down.
Source : BBC Website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4561147.stm