Lindbergh’s iconic aviator cap goes unsold at Paris auction

PARIS – The iconic aviation cap worn by Charles Lindbergh during his famed 1927 trans-Atlantic flight to France went on the auction block Wednesday but failed to sell.

Bidding on the floppy brown leather cap that buttons around the chin reached 52,000 euros ($55,505) — below the minimum set price of 60,000 euros ($64,000) — the Druout auction house said.

Pre-auction estimates for what was billed as an exceptional sale went as high as $86,000.

The aviator cap was discovered by a Parisian family in their garden days after the 25-year-old Lindbergh flew his plane solo from New York to Le Bourget in the Paris suburbs. Auctioneer Nicholas Couvrand said the cap had fallen off during a later flight when Lindbergh did “a loop” in the air.

The cap kept Lindbergh warm during the grueling 33-hour air voyage that propelled the previously unknown air mail pilot to international fame.