A RARELY signed Michael Jordan rookie card was sold for a record $2.5MILLION at auction.
It was purchased in just ONE BID and was the highest price ever paid for that particular card.
It was signed by Jordan in 2024, commemorating his iconic rookie season and Air Jordan 1 debut[/caption]
It significantly leaps a signed 1986 Fleer Jordan rookie card that went for $1.008 million in 2022.
The winning bid of $2million was the only bid, with the total value rising to $2.5 million as Joopiter auction house charges a 25 per cent buyer’s premium.
It‘s part of a batch of the Fleer rookie cards that MJ secretly signed last year at his Florida golf course -and he didn’t get paid to do it.
The six-time NBA champ and Chicago Bulls legend, now 62, signed the cards with a blue Sharpie pen.
The card received a nine out of 10 grade for its condition and 10 out of 10 grade for the autograph.
Will Stern, a reporter and editor at Cllct, told Front Office Sports: “It’s a shocking amount of money.
“I don’t think there’s anybody who I spoke to within the industry that expected this.”
That opinion is shared by Michael Osacky, president of sports cards and memorabilia appraiser Baseball in the Attic.
Osacky, said the “fair market value” card is about $1 million.
He said: “I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I have some doubts [about the auction]. The value seems so preposterous.”
Although there was only one bid, Joopiter said the “sale had strong activity from potential buyers in 50 countries.”
The buyer is not being identified, which Osacky says is typical “unless the buyer has a big enough ego and purposely wants to disclose it.”
A signed Jordan Fleer card with lower ratings sold for $205,000 last year.
The sale is a big splash for Joopiter, which was founded in 2022 by singer and music producer Pharrell Williams.
It represents the company’s first foray into sports items.
Previous items auctioned by Joopiter include Williams’ own clothing and memorabilia, as well as special edition Nike sneakers.
Jordan is said to have signed nine of the Fleer cards in one sitting.
Meanwhile, a game-used Logoman patch autograph card went for $2.928 million last June – making it the most expensive MJ card ever.
And an iconic Jordan jersey from the 1992-93 season recently sold at auction for $2.623million.
