Trading cards of famous sports athletes have been around since the turn of the 20th century. Our culture's obsession with baseball as the national pastime soon turned into one about collecting baseball trading cards. That quickly rolled into football, soccer, hockey and, of course, basketball.
Last year saw the record for most expensive NBA card break when a rookie Steph Curry card sold for $5.9 million in a private auction. But as for the most expensive NBA trading cards of this year, it's all about LeBron James and Michael Jordan — the two greatest players to ever play the sport.
Bonus Insider teamed up with the world's biggest collectible auctioneer, Heritage Actions, to identify the highest amounts placed on cards sold in 2023. After reviewing over 18,000 cards, these were the most valuable sold.
Key Findings:
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The 2003-2004 Exquisite Collection LeBron James #78 card shows up three different times on the top ten list. The most expensive of those sold for $720,000 on February 25, 2023.
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The 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan Original Rookie Card #57 appears four times on the list — one of them being a 2006-2007 re-release with an authentic autograph. MJ doesn't give out autographs willy-nilly, so that's a real one of a kind piece.
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The most expensive Michael Jordan card, and landing at number three on the list, is the 2004-2005 Exquisite Collection Titleists Michael Jordan #ET-MJ card, which sold for $324,000 back in August.
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There are only 20 copies of the 1996 US Olympic Champions Michael Jordan #RG1 card ever produced, which makes it quite valuable to any potential collectors out there.
Via Bonus Insider.
