Pictured is Aaron Judge and his name card // Photo: fanaticscollect.com.
The card was issued in 2013 as a single copy. It features a photograph of Judge, signed by him. The seller and buyer of the lot chose to keep it confidential.
Soar in value 16 times in four years
Judge’s card was worth $324k at the time of the previous sale in 2022. In four years, its price has increased 16 times, and you can be sure that this growth will continue. “We are honored to broker this record-breaking transaction and to be a part of such a significant moment in the history of the hobby,” Fanatics Collect said in a statement following the auction.
$1.3 million more
The previous record belonged to a personalized card of Los Angeles Angels baseball player Mike Trout from 2009. At auction in 2020, it went under the hammer for $3.9 million.
Both cards were issued as part of the “Bowman Chrome Superfractor” series. It includes chrome paper cards with a metallic glow, issued exclusively in a single copy.
One of the most valuable in the league
Aaron Judge is a 33-year-old athlete who has been named Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Most Valuable Player three times and has appeared in the MLB All-Star Game seven times. He has been playing for the New York Yankees since 2016.
Most expensive card in history
Judge’s card is the most expensive card ever issued in modern times. The most expensive in history, on the other hand, is Mickey Mantle’s collectible name card, issued in 1952, bearing his signature. It sold for $12.6 million in an auction organized by Heritage Auctions in 2022, and has since topped the list of the most expensive sports-related lots ever sold at auction.
