Forty of the most-wanted trading cards are being sold this September, and leading the way is a $1-million Michael Jordan card.
The card is the top lot at Sotheby’s Holy Grails auction in Harlem, New York on September 24.
The estimates for the sale take the value of the 40 card over $7 million.
The Jordan card – also featuring Julius Erving and signed by both – carries an estimate of $800,000 to $1 million.
Sotheby’s are teaming up with collectible card specialists Fanatics for the sales and are making quite the event of it.
The venue, Harlem Parish, a legendary former church, is being decorated to match a baseball diamond for the sale, with baseball themed snacks given a high-end twist for bidders.
The Jordan/Erving card was printed for the 2005-6 NBA season and is unique.
Harlem Parish is a hugely grand venue for the Holy Grails sale.
A statement from Sotheby’s and Fanatics says: “As a one-of-a-kind item, being the sole copy released for that season and one of only two such cards featuring these basketball legends ever released for Exquisite Collection, it holds a unique position in sports memorabilia.
“This rarity is further emphasized by the fact that it is one of just eight dual logoman autographs in existence from Exquisite Collection to feature Michael Jordan.”
Tom Brady, LeBron James, Jackie Robinson, and Roberto Clemente are among the other big American sporting name to feature on the other cards.
The Clemente card is a 1955 Topps rookie card, said to be one of only 11 of its condition. It is signed and expected to reach between $800,000 and $1 million.
Sports trading cards are hugely collectible in the United States. As of 2023, the top 13 most valuable cards had all made over $3.75 million.
The 13th most valuable, sold for that price, was a Wayne Gretzky hockey card from 1979. The most valuable cards are baseball issues. The most expensive ever was a 1952 Mickey Mantle Topps card sold for $12.6 million.
Originally produced as a supplementary giveaway with tobacco purchases, they were later produced by bubblegum companies (Topps, for example). It is unusual for items produced specifically to be collected to achieve really high values. In the case of sports trading cards the rarity and value is often found from older cards, which were considered throwaway – and many of them were. Or very limited edition cards like the Jordan/Erving card set for sale this September.
Autographs add significantly to the value of cards, though players signed them in huge numbers in their heyday.
