After nearly half a century as a museum’s priceless artifact, the Yankees uniform that Don Larsen wore while pitching the only World Series perfect game will soon have a price.

Though administrators at the museum, the San Diego Hall of Champions, believed the historic pinstripes were a gift rather than a loan, its former president, Al Kidd, said they lacked both the paperwork to prove it and the inclination to contest ownership. When Larsen decided to reclaim the uniform he had entrusted to the hall around the time of his 1964 induction, management put up no more of a fight than the Brooklyn Dodgers did on Oct. 8, 1956.

“I felt I wanted to do something with it,” said Larsen, who will turn 83 in August and plans to auction the uniform this fall. “I’m not getting any younger.”

Given the potential seven-figure proceeds from the sale, other athletes whose salaries never approached that may wonder whether they have a windfall waiting behind panes of museum glass. The Larsen case could also have broad implications for museums in possession of items of significant value but no conclusive proof of ownership. The curator of one prominent sports museum said he was reluctant to address the subject for fear that donors might seek to monetize their memorabilia.