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LeBron James matches Mickey Mantle for highest selling sports card of all-time
LeBron James’ valuable rookie card continues to soar, now reaching Mickey Mantle legendary status.
PWCC Marketplace tweeted Monday that it had privately sold a 2003 signed LeBron James Exquisite Collection patch card for $5.2 million, setting a record for basketball cards and matching the all-time sports card record. A 1952 Mickey Mantle card was sold for a record $5.2 million by PWCC in January. A Luka Doncic rookie card sold for $4.6 million earlier this year to set the basketball record.
“This was actually in the works for a while,” Jesse Craig, PWCC’s director of business development, told Action Networks’ Darren Rovell. “The demand for rare cards, especially basketball right now, is just like the demand for fine art.”
The card is a limited edition 7/23 and graded BSG 9 mint. Of the 21 LeBron patch parallels numbered to 23, only four 9s exist, with two graded 9.5. According to PWCC, the card is the best of the four 9s based on subgrades.
Goldin Auctions sold one of the 9.5s last year for $1.8 million, which set the basketball record at the time. The Doncic rookie card later blew that away at $4.6 million, which was then the second-highest selling sports card ever.
A day before the PWCC sale, Goldin Auctions announced it had sold a similar LeBron James card for $1.72 million during is April Premium Auction.
Craig told Sports Collectors Daily that the card and the seller were located in Europe and a PWCC rep flew to the UK to facilitate the transaction.
