The short answer
Tiffany & Co. has crafted the Super Bowl championship trophy since 1967. Made in sterling silver, it was renamed for Vince Lombardi in 1970. Sterling means 92.5 percent silver, while the trophy’s construction and craftsmanship are separate questions from its metal purity.
Silver at the center of the celebration
The football raised after the Super Bowl is one of the most recognizable silver objects in sport. Tiffany & Co. says it has made the championship trophy since the first Super Bowl in 1967. Its design places a regulation-size football in a kicking position above a sculptural base.
For a collector, the interesting detail is the material beneath that familiar shine. The trophy is made in sterling silver. The NFL’s own making-of gallery also describes it as entirely sterling silver. This is a substantial piece of silversmithing as well as a sporting symbol.
What sterling means here
Sterling is a silver alloy with a fineness of 925 parts per thousand, or 92.5 percent silver by mass. Tiffany explains that it adopted this English standard for its silver goods before it became the official American standard. The number describes composition rather than the shape or thickness of an object.
That distinction matters when the trophy is described as “solid sterling.” In ordinary silver descriptions, the phrase may distinguish sterling metal from a silver-plated surface. It should not lead a reader to imagine that the entire football and pedestal were carved from one completely filled block of silver.
The work behind the surface
Tiffany’s 2021 account places the trophy in its hollowware workshop and describes silversmiths and metal spinners shaping its football form and three-sided base. Details are worked into the precious metal rather than supplied by its brightness alone.
In its 2022 Super Bowl LVI release, Tiffany identifies spinning, silversmithing, chasing, hand engraving, and polishing among the techniques involved. These are useful clues to what a collector should notice: curves, surface detail, joins, lettering, and the quality of the final finish.
The finished silhouette can look simple at a distance. Looking at the making process changes that impression. A smooth curve or a sharp, consistent detail is the outcome of work on the material, and a specification for silver purity tells only one part of that story.
The name came later
The trophy’s history began before it carried Vince Lombardi’s name. Tiffany records that it was renamed in 1970, following the coach’s death. Lombardi had led the Green Bay Packers to victory in the first two Super Bowls.
The original date and the renaming date answer different questions. “Made for the Super Bowl since 1967” describes the trophy tradition; “named for Lombardi in 1970” describes the later dedication. Keeping both dates avoids suggesting that the name was already in use at the first presentation.
A collector’s way of looking
The trophy offers an accessible introduction to silver beyond coins and bullion. Start with the maker, identify the alloy, examine the construction, and then investigate the event or person commemorated. These are separate kinds of evidence, and each adds something to the description.
The same approach works for a small presentation cup or an engraved sporting medal. Record the inscription exactly, distinguish documented history from a seller’s story, and avoid treating silver weight as a complete account of the object. The Lombardi Trophy’s meaning comes from the meeting of material, workmanship, and achievement.
About this edition
Original source and editorial notes
Adapted from original material by Rich Silver. Original source card: Silver fact — supplied original card (publication date not established).
Reviewed 2026-11-04. Expanded the card with Tiffany and NFL documentation. Clarified the 1967 origin and 1970 renaming. Replaced ambiguous “solid” wording with sterling construction and distinguished fineness from a solid block of metal. Omitted a timeless weight: Tiffany’s 2022 Super Bowl LVI release says seven pounds, while its official football-trophies page reviewed in November 2026 lists 8.75 pounds. No inference is made about why the specifications differ. Omitted current cost, melt value, production counts and changing workshop specifications. No Tiffany/NFL images or rights are included. The original card has no verified publication date or public URL; neither has been inferred from file metadata.