‘The finest we’ve ever seen’: Rookie card of Superbowl winner Tom Brady makes auction history after true ‘Patriot’ makes $400,000 winning bid
- The Rookie Tom Brady football card sold for $400,100 after 118 bids
- Quarterback Brady is a six-time Superbowl winner and three-time NFL MVP
- Shipping costs alone for the item add an additional $250 for extra protection
The winning bid for a playing card for has made history as the most expensive in auction history.
A rookie card of Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback star who won his sixth Superbowl earlier this month, sold for $400,100 (£300,00) after an intense round of bidding.
It was a touch-down moment for the card’s owner, who had kept the 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket item in a ‘flawless’ state.
A 19-year-old playing card of quarterback Tom Brady has become the most expensive American football card in history after a successful bid of $400,100
Only 100 were ever made and only two of those, one being the 41/100 card at auction, have been given a grade nine ‘mint condition’ rating.
The back of the rookie card displays Brady’s statistics from 2000, before he joined the New England Patriots
The auction, run by PWCC Marketplace, confirmed that the successful bid made the sealed card the most expensive officially sold.
‘This sale was record-setting but also largely predicted,’ said PWCC Marketplace CEO Brett Huigens told ESPN.
‘This auction event featured the finest football card we’ve brokered in our 20-year history and achieved the highest-ever hammer price for a football card.
‘We were honored to present this asset to the public and are delighted for the new owner.’
The card has been praised for its perfect condition due to the rarity of a nine-grade score on the Beckett Grading Service.
Private sales of the same card in lower grades are believed to have sold at retail for over $250,000, according to PWCC.
The giant price tag comes weeks after Tom Brady, 41, won his sixth superbowl with team the New England Patriots.
The quarterback racked up 4355 yards in the 2018-19 season, bringing his career total to 70,500 yards. He has also scored 517 touchdowns in his 19-year career with the Patriots.
Brady (centre 12) celebrates his sixth Superbowl 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta with Julian Edelman (left 11) who was named the Most Valuable Player
A younger Brady (right) at the 2008 Superbowl where the New York Giants defeated the Patriots by the score of 17–14 in what has been called ‘one of the biggest upsets in NFL’
He has been award the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award three times.
While the Brady card now holds the record auction price for a football card, it pales in comparison to many collectibles from baseball history.
In 2018, a 1952 Micky Mantle card sold for $2.88 million in April 2018, according to SportsIllustrated.
The card was one of over 15,000 cards, lots, and sets up for auction in WPCC Marketplace’s second auction round of 2019.
Tom Brady holds the Vince Lombardi trophy aloft during the Super Bowl Victory Parade in Boston, Massachusetts
The six-foot-four quarterback has spent his entire professional career with the New England Patriots after being picked in the 2000 NFL draft