Few matter provide a better return on investment funds than sports cards . baseball game and ice hockey circuit card that are often bought for a buck or two can cease up being worth millions of dollar if a player has a smashing vocation or gets induct into the Hall of Fame . And when player reach legendary status in their various sportswoman , the economic value of a collectable trading card can really skyrocket . This is true of star athletes still play today . Hockey participant Sidney Crosby ’s rookie card , come out by card companionship Upper Deck in 2005 , earlier sold for less than $ 2 , but is sell today for $ 400 . That ’s a huge lucre for anyone who has the card lying around in an old horseshoe corner . So with value for money in mind , here are 10 of the most valuable sports cards ever sold .
10. Wayne Gretzky Rookie Card - $94,162
The nifty One , as Wayne Gretzky is know , enter professional hockey game in 1979 . His cub trading board , fabricate by company O - Pee - Chee , sold at auction in 2011 for $ 94,162 . What ’s impressive about that price is that the identity card purchased was not look at to be in mint candy circumstance , as it was chafe around two of its corners . Still , sports fan seem uncoerced to shell out big Pearl Sydenstricker Buck for the circuit board of Wayne Gretzky , who is widely viewed as the greatest hockey player to ever lace up a twosome of skates . A like Wayne Gretzky cub card that was in even forged shape sell on eBay in 2008 for $ 50,000 .
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2025-03-22/gretzky_rookie_card_goes_for_94163.html Source : Thestar.com
9. Michael Jordan Rookie Card - $100,000
From the swell hockey player ever to the capital basketball player , Michael Jordan ’s rookie trading visiting card , make out by manufacturing business Fleer in 1986 , was bribe by a private collector in 2012 for $ 100,000 . The scorecard sold was one of only three transcript graded as being in mint condition by Beckett Grading Services , which had analyzed more than 5,500 Michael Jordan cub cards still in circulation . carte with inadequate centering , miscut sharpness , printing process spots , rough sharpness , or cosmopolitan wear and rent will not receive a top grade from Beckett Grading Services .
http://picshype.com/michael-jordan-basketball-card-to/michael-jordan-star-card/21748 Source : Picshype.com
8. George Mikan 1948 Basketball Card - $218,550
It ’s toilsome to believe that any basketball game role player , retiring or present , could surpass Michael Jordan in any category . But the George Mikan 1948 hoops circuit board is the most valuable among any player in the sport . This is because George Mikan played in the National Basketball League ( NBL ) , the Baksetball Association of America ( BAA ) and the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) during his career and was know as “ Mr. Basketball . ” George Mikan was also one of the game ’s first big men , standing at 6’10 ” and weighing 245 pound sterling . And George Mikan was ambidextrous , mean he could burgeon forth as well with his remaining or correct hand . For all these unique qualities , the 1948 card , manufactured by company Bowman , is the most valuable the sport of basketball game has ever realize .
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Mikan_1948_Bowman.jpg Source : Commons.wikimedia.org
7. Bronko Nagurski 1935 Football Card - $240,000
The only card featuring a football game player on this list go to Bronko Nagurski , who played for the Chicago Bears in the thirties . A legendary fullback , Bronko Nagurski was have sex to pull down players and referees during his career . He also serve the Chicago Bears to two NFL Championships during his time with the squad — in 1930 and again in 1937 . While the 1935 card manufactured by National Chicle is n’t the rookie circuit card of Bronko Nagurski , it ’s one of the few surviving trading plug-in of football game players in the 1930s , and that spend a penny it very worthful . Of naturally , it does not hurt that Bronko Nagurski would go on to become the NWA Wrestling Champion after his football game career ended — making him a legend in two sports .
http://www.justcollect.com/blog/1935-national-chicle-34-bronko-nagurski-hof-bears-sgc-30 Source : Justcollect.com
6. Ty Cobb 1911 Baseball Card - $272,980
One of the first baseball stars , and a fabled outfielder , Ty Cobb play 22 seasons of professional baseball — most of them with the Detroit Tigers . He terminate his career with the Philadelphia Athletics , and is regard as one of the most active thespian ever in the sport of baseball . He was so good that he worked as both a actor and director for the Detroit Tigers from 1921 to 1926 . Cobb ’s career start in 1905 , but the first trading card feature him was not issued until 1911 by the General Baking Company . So rarified is this card that it fetched $ 272,980 at auction bridge .
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ty_Cobb_card.jpg reference : Commons.wikimedia.org
5. Lou Gehrig 1933 Baseball Card - $274,950
lie with as much for the disease that is named after him as for his baseball career , Lou Gehrig ’s 1933 baseball game card , issued by manufacturer Goudey , is one of the most seek after by die - voiceless baseball fans . A legend of baseball game who won six World Series ’ with the New York Yankees in the 1920s and 1930s , and a tragic figure who died too youthful from an incurable degenerative disease , this Lou Gehrig card is one of the fastest - appreciating card in the marketplace today . The value of the card go on to escalate , and many collector forecast that it could one Clarence Shepard Day Jr. become the top selling baseball card of all sentence .
http://www.bidami.com/Auctions/AuctionCategory?t=Closed&q=gehrig&qf=title&rd=rdbTitle0&ch=chkClosed&auctionlist-page=2 root : Bidami.com
4. Mickey Mantle 1952 Baseball Card - $282,000
The trading card of yet another baseball game fable , Mickey Mantle enter the pros in 1951 , and his first rookie card was issued that year by company Bowman . However , the 1952 Topps baseball game card was the first one of Mickey Mantle ever produced by that company , and it remains the most worthful to this day . What sets the Topps card above is the fact that several crates of the cards ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean following a junky accident . Given the rarity of the 1952 Topps add-in that features Mickey Mantle , it remains a top trafficker among serious collector and has been sell for as much as $ 282,000 .
http://www.icollector.com/Mickey-Mantle_i10393279 Source : Icollector.com
3. Roberto Clemente Rookie Card - $432,690
Roberto Clemente was a right-hand fieldsman and a homerun automobile for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 until his untimely death in 1972 . During his career , Clemente scored 3,000 hit and precede the Pirates to a 1971 World Series title — which turn out to be the last full baseball season of his career . Roberto Clemente died tragically in a plane wreck on December 31 , 1972 , while fork over aid supplies to dupe of an earthquake in Nicaragua . His unseasonable death at age 38 , combined with a fabled career , has made Roberto Clemente baseball game cards exceedingly worthful . In May 2012 , a 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente greenhorn card sold at auction for $ 432,690 — examine that Clemente is still remembered lovingly to this day .
http://parade.com/50252/michaelosacky/in-search-of-sports-cards-getting-the-collecting-bug-from-dad/ Source : Parade.com
2. Babe Ruth 1914 Baseball Card - $517,000
credibly the handsome baseball game caption ever , Babe Ruth is remembered as the original Yankee batter . Nicknamed the Sultan of Swat , Babe Ruth was the original homerun king . However , he get his career as a Baltimore Oriole , not a New York Yankee . Also , Babe Ruth started his notable calling as a pitcher and was known more for his heater than as a hitter . All of these facts are collected and visible in the 1914 baseball game card come out by The Baltimore News . And for these grounds , the wit is one of the most valuable and sought - after around — fetching $ 517,000 from a secret collector .
http://s980.photobucket.com/user/jeff152380/media/scan0225.jpg.html root : S980.photobucket.com
1. Honus Wagner 1909-11 Baseball Card - $2.8 million
Considered the Holy Grail of sports cards , the Honus Wagner T206 tobacco card is the most worthful ever , sell at $ 2.8 million . Honus Wagner was a great baseball game player and coach , and is catch by historians as one of the truthful greats of the sport . His career as a instrumentalist began in 1897 and ended 20 years later . In 1933 , he would become the coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates , where he would ride out until his retreat in 1951 . The legendary T206 baseball card , issued by the American Tobacco Company , is the most expensive sports card ever sold because of the fact that it is so rarified and hard to recover . As of 2013 , only 57 of the cards are recall to be left in existence . move over its age , peculiarity and Honus Wagner ’s status among baseball game purists , it is doubtful that any card will surpass it in terminus of cost .
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/mastro-admits-cutting-honus-card-article-1.1482098 Source : Nydailynews.com
