* Jewelry, baseball jacket, Rolex watches for sale

* Auction crowd applauds as buyers drive up prices

* Yachts, other vessels set for auction next week

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - More than 100 items belonging to notorious swindler Bernard Madoff and his wife were auctioned off on Saturday to help repay his victims, with many fetching far more than their estimated value set by the U.S. government.

Jewelry dealers, souvenir hunters and collectors swooped down on everything from wife Ruth's furs and diamond-encrusted bracelets to Bernie's old New York Mets baseball jacket and fishing tackle box at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

Someone bought a pair of otherwise ordinary Igloo brand coolers for $250, while another paid $2,200 for a Mont Blanc wallet with the monogram of "BM." The government's estimate was $70 to $100.

The Mets jacket went for a cool $14,500 -- presumably prized for its "Madoff" and "MADF" lettering.

Madoff, who bilked investors for decades of as much as $65 billion in a Ponzi scheme, was sentenced to 150 years in prison in June.