LeBron James rookie card sells for record $1.845 million

LeBron James continues to set records on the basketball court and in the sports memorabilia world.

A 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite rookie patch autograph parallel card of “King James” sold for a staggering $1.845 million during a sports memorabilia auction Saturday night. The sale, conducted by Goldin Auctions, doubled the previous record for a modern card, which is considered to be any sports card manufactured after 1980, The Washington Post reported. The previous mark was set two months ago when Goldin Auctions sold a 2009 Bowman Chrome Mike Trout red refractor autograph card for $922,500, according to Sports Collectors Daily.

The winning bid for the card of the Los Angeles Lakers star was $1.5 million, and the buyers’ premium pushed the final amount past the $1.8 million mark.

Only 23 examples of this James rookie card from Upper Deck were produced -- matching James’ uniform number -- and the card that sold Saturday was numbered 14 of 23. It attracted 34 bids during the 26-day sale, Sports Collectors Daily reported.

The card graded 9.5 out of 10 by Beckett Grading Services, and there is only one other 9.5 graded specimen of this card, which is in private hands, Sports Collectors Daily reported.

“If we were talking about a T206 (Honus) Wagner, or a 1952 (Mickey) Mantle, it probably wouldn’t be that much news,” Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, told ESPN. “But when you’re talking about a card that was literally produced 17 years ago and is for a guy still playing in the NBA, it’s just shocking news to a lot of people. It’s really where my particular industry has been going for several years.”

According to the Post and sports business reporter Darren Rovell, the winning bid was placed by Leore Avidar, the CEO of Lob. According to its website, Lob aims to help other businesses “increase the connectivity between the offline and online worlds.” Avidar told the Action Network that his jaw-dropping bid was part of a plan to “bring something big to the collectibles and alternative asset business in the coming months.”

Bidding for the card began at $150,000 according to Goldin’s auction listing.

Goldin Auctions has now had a hand in three record-breaking card sales this year. In addition to the James rookie and the Trout refractor that sold in May, Goldin also sold a 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Logoman card in February featuring James and Michael Jordan for $900,000, ESPN reported.

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