Tom Brady
Tom Brady 1-of-1 rookie card actually a 1-of-2, sells for $396K at PWCC
A Tom Brady 1-of-1 rookie card up for bid in the May Premier Auction at PWCC Marketplace is actually a 2-of-2, or, as PWCC explains, has an extremely rare doppelganger.
The 2000 Fleer Showcase Masterpieces Tom Brady ROOKIE 1/1 #136 BGS 8.5 NM-MT+ has a duplicate card that was accidentally released by Fleer and graded by PSA. It sold Thursday for $396,000 in PWCC's May Premier Auction.
When the Beckett-graded card was submitted for auction, PWCC officials knew a second copy graded by PSA existed because it was owned by a well-known PWCC client.
PWCC officials did extensive research to verify the authenticity of both cards before putting the Beckett-graded card up for auction.
PWCC contacted the owner of the PSA card who agreed to allow an in-house review of the two cards side-by-side. The PWCC team used a jewelry loupe to examine the two cards — as well as other serial-numbered Brady cards from the set that share the same design — and confirm that both cards had identical printing marks.
PWCC then traveled to the Beckett offices in Dallas to have Beckett graders confirm the authenticity of the card.
“We aren’t in the business of technical grading nor authentication,” said Jesse Craig, director of Business development at PWCC. “We rely on the expertise of third-party graders to ensure a card is authentic. This card was graded in 2004 and everything looked authentic but because of the value, we decided to board a flight with the card and went to the Beckett offices in Texas to have them double-check and reaffirm the authenticity of the card. They confirmed the authenticity and gave us a letter verifying such, which will be included in the auction."
Beckett confirmed the card was graded and encapsulated on Feb. 5, 2004 and is still in its original holder. According to PWCC, the owner purchased the card in 2005 for $2,000.
Though PWCC can’t confirm how a second card was released, it was not unusual for card manufacturers like Fleer and Upper Deck to print duplicates of 1-of-1 cards in the early days of serial-numbered cards as they experimented with limited productions. The duplicates were often used as backups or to help with the design of future variations. It this case, it is believed that Fleer accidentally released the duplicate card.
Based on its analysis of both cards, PWCC believes the PSA-graded card slabbed 1/1 is also authentic, but that card is not for sale and does not impact the listing of the Becket card.
The 2000 Showcase Masterpiece card, which features Brady throwing a pass in his Patriots uniform upon a cloud background, is similar to a Superfractor and is one of Brady’s most popular and elusive inserts. The Fleer Showcase Legacy collection is one of the preeminent brands from the late 1990s, gaining popularity with the 1996 Kobe Bryant rookie card.
“The card’s crispness, clean design and sparkling name plate were ahead of their time,” PWCC says in its card description.
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Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
