Wayne Gretzky holds or shares 61 NHL records, but on Thursday, he broke one of his own records off of the ice.
Gretzky’s 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee rookie card sold for $465,000 during a live auction at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, NJ. This sets the record for the most valuable modern-day hockey card, shattering the previous record of $94,163 that the card sold for back in May 2011.
This Wayne Gretzky rookie card just sold for $465,000, a record for any hockey card ever sold pic.twitter.com/voRY7HGUYm
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 4, 2016
The card was auctioned off by Goldin Auction and after online bidding closed at 1 pm Thursday, a live auction event was held. The card is one-of-a-kind as it is the only copy that has received a Gem Mint 10 grade by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), an independent company that assesses the authenticity and condition of sports cards, autographs and other collectibles.
Gretzky’s rookie card was one of many impressive pieces of sports history that were sold during the live auction. Other unique items include New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth’s last Major League Baseball contract ($360,000), a minor league baseball questionnaire filled out by a then-18-year-old Mickey Mantle ($26,400) and Michael Jordan’s expired MasterCard ($5,000), among others.
Steven is a lawyer and writer with a passion for the game of hockey. He’s the Lead Writer covering the Tampa Bay Lightning with THW. He’s also been press credentialed through the Lightning since 2016. His work has been published at The Fourth Period, LightningInsider.com, Bolt Prospects, The Sports Daily Network, U.S. College Hockey Online and College Hockey News. He’s had radio appearances on TSN 690 in Montreal, Lightning Power Play Live and multiple podcasts to give insight and analysis on the team. He can be reached on Twitter @StevenDiOssi and by email at sdiossi@gmail.com.
