Soccer cards have been around for more than 100 years, with some of the first cards being found in cigarette and chewing gum packs. Through the years, soccer cards have evolved into being sold in booster packs and other collection boxes, while a secondary market of single cards has formed as well. Some of the cards, both old and new, are exceptionally rare, especially if they are in pristine condition, resulting in investors and collectors being willing to spend huge amounts of money to buy specific chase cards. In this blog post, we will give a run down of the 5 cards that have sold for the highest prices on PWCC.
5) 1958 Americana Futebol Soccer Pele ROOKIE PSA 6 EXMT (Sold 18/08/2022 for $204,000)
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The 5th most expensive cards ever sold on PWCC is this 1958 Americana Futebol ROOKIE Pele. The Brazilian card was produced as a tribute to Brazil's victory in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, in which Pelé scored 6 goals, including a hat-trick in the semi-final as well as 2 goals in the final. The tournament introduced Pelé to the world of soccer, paving the way of him being recognized as one of the best players to ever bless the pitch with his magic. The cards were collected in the hopes of winning bicycles, washing machines and other prizes, and as such, the cards were mailed in to enter the raffle. Furthermore, the cards had to be cut by hand, resulting in most of the cards not surviving through the years. Because of this, this Pelé card is one of the rarest and most desired soccer cards in the world. As PSA has only ever graded 14 copies, with this card getting a grade of 6, the highest grade of any of the copies, this card is a almost as unique as it gets.
4) 1958 Alifabolaget Football Pele ROOKIE #635 SGC 7.5 NRMT+ (Sold 23/01/2022 for $216,000)
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Taking up spot number 4 is another 1958 Pelé card, this one being the Swedish Alifabolaget Football Pele ROOKIE #635. This card was also printed to commemorate the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and features a very bright color scheme and great centering for a card of its time. The card features a short description of Pelé, stating that he was the youngest player at the tournament, at an age of only 17, and it describes how he cried when the tournament was won. The card is graded as a 7.5 by SGC, resulting in the card having attained the highest SGC grade of any copy. A MINT PSA 9 copy was sold for $900,000, although not through PWCC.
3) 2003 Panini Sports Mega Craques Cristiano Ronaldo ROOKIE RC #137 PSA 10 GEM MINT (Sold 02/10/2021 for $250,000)
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The first card not depicting Pelé, to feature on this list, is this Portuguese 2003 Panini Sports Mega Craques Cristiano Ronaldo ROOKIE RC #137 PSA 10 GEM MINT from when CR7 was still CR28. When this rookie card was printed, there was no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo was a special player, with the card describing him as the Portuguese football prodigy, focusing on his keen sense of goal and extreme dribbling abilities. Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the greatest soccer players of all time, as well as many fans' favorite player, it is not surprising that this Rookie card is very sought after by collectors and investors.
2) 2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks Lionel Messi ROOKIE #71 PSA 10 GEM MINT (Sold 16/06/2022 for $312,000)
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The third player to feature on this list is arguably the greatest player of all time, printed on this 2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks Lionel Messi ROOKIE #71 PSA 10 GEM MINT. Being a rookie card, Messi is listed as playing for both the first team, as well as FC Barcelona B during the season, due to him training with the first team during pre-season, adding to the card's uniqueness. There exists only 20 copies of the card, that has received a PSA 10 grade, thus there are only a set number of collectors, that can own the card. Due to this, the card is very valuable, presumably haven risen more in value as a result of Messi and Argentina's recent World Cup win, adding to the case of Lionel Messi being the greatest soccer player of all time.
1) 1958 Alifabolaget Soccer Pele ROOKIE RC #635 PSA 8 NM-MT (Sold 27/03/2021 for $340,000)
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Taking up the first place is yet another Pelé card, and more specifically another copy of the 1958 Alifabolaget Soccer Pele ROOKIE RC #635, which also featured at the 4th place. This card is superior to the card in 4th place due to it having attained a higher grade, as well as being graded by PSA, which is a more renowned grading company than SGC. PSA has graded a total of 72 copies of this Pelé card, with 9 attaining higher grades than this copy, resulting in this card being among the finest soccer cards to exist. As mentioned earlier a MINT PSA 9 copy was sold for $900,000, although not through PWCC.
It is important to note, that all of these cards were sold during the boom of the soccer card market, where prices had increased significantly, due to a sudden increase in interest. The prices has seen dropped a fair bit, as the popularity of investing in, and collecting soccer cards has fallen a bit out of favor once again.
Based on this, the future of soccer cards is uncertain, albeit exciting, as prices may start rising again, as more people become interested in collecting and investing in the hobby.
