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Lindbergh's iconic aviation cap to go under hammer in Paris

Associated Press
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The leather cap of Captain Charles Lindbergh is pictured at the Drouot aucton house, Wednesday, Nov.16, 2016 in Paris. Lindbergh wore the aviation cap during his famous 33-hour transatlantic flight in 1927 from New York to Paris. Drouot's Wednesday sale is expected to fetch around $64 000-86 000. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (The Associated Press)

The leather cap of Captain Charles Lindbergh is pictured at the Drouot auction house, Wednesday, Nov.16, 2016 in Paris. Lindbergh wore the aviation cap during his famous 33-hour transatlantic flight in 1927 from New York to Paris. Drouot's Wednesday sale is expected to fetch around $64 000-86 000. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (The Associated Press)

The leather cap of Captain Charles Lindbergh is pictured at the Drouot aucton house, Wednesday, Nov.16, 2016 in Paris. Lindbergh wore the aviation cap during his famous 33-hour transatlantic flight in 1927 from New York to Paris. Drouot's Wednesday sale is expected to fetch around $64 000-86 000. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (The Associated Press)

The iconic aviation cap worn by Charles Lindbergh during his famed 1927 trans-Atlantic flight to France is being auctioned off in Paris.

The floppy brown leather cap that buttons around the chin is expected to fetch $64,000-$86,000 at Drouot's auction on Wednesday in what's being billed as an exceptional sale.

The item 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 that the cap had fallen off during a later flight when Lindbergh did "a loop" in the air.

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