13 years ago, Upper Deck printed one LeBron James rookie card featuring an authentic NBA logo jersey patch and James’ autograph. Now, the owner of that card is selling it, and it’s expected to fetch as much as $200,000.
From Cleveland.com:The world’s rarest and most valuable LeBron James basketball trading card according to some collectors is currently up for auction. And with fewer than two weeks remaining, bids are expected to reach $200,000.
Sports memorabilia expert Ken Goldin says a collector pulled the one-of-a-kind card out of a pack in 2003 and held on to it for more than 10 years.
“It’s sorta like finding Willy Wonka’s golden ticket,” Goldin said. “It really is the Holy Grail of modern trading cards.”It’s not unheard of for trading cards to go for this much, but they’re usually much older than 2003. Trading cards haven’t had the place in culture recently that they had in decades past, so it’s rare for a card this new to be this valuable. But an autographed LeBron James rookie card that’s one-of-a-kind? That would be the exception.