For several decades, card collecting has been popular with sports fans. In particular, baseball fans have taken an interest in collecting MLB cards since the 80s. In fact, it was during the 90s when MBL baseball card collection reached its peak, with an estimated four million collectors at one point. Since then, however, the baseball card collecting industry has declined a little, as there are now only around 900,000 baseball card collectors worldwide.
Due to fewer people collecting baseball cards, it has automatically added value to them. You won’t be surprised to discover that some baseball cards are extremely rare and valuable. For many baseball fans, the prospect of owning one of these cards is enough to make them scream in excitement and even spend crazy amounts in extreme cases!
To prove that latter fact, here are the five rarest MLB cards you need to know about:
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T206 Honus Wagner
The T206 Honus Wagner card is part myth and part legend. It exists, that’s for sure – but it is extremely rare. Wanger is considered one of the best baseball players of all time, which is one of the main reasons why this card remains in such high demand.
He is a legend of the dead-ball era of baseball and is seen as a cult icon, boasting a mega-valued counterpart collectible card to match. The value of his card? An estimated $3 million! If you can’t afford to start collecting the vintage baseball cards, what about starting with the new range of cards coming out that feature the MLB players of today? With this run of new cards, make sure to purchase during the offseason and Spring Training. As you start to look for which cards would be the best to pick, you might consider looking at their odds. In particular, look over the World Series betting odds. You can see which teams have the best odds and then look at which players have baseball cards coming out – chances are the most favored teams will have the most cards out there.
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Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps
The overall value of the Mickey Mantle card is around $2.8 million, although it could potentially be more. This is because the card was sold back in 2018 and has more than likely increased in value since then.
If you’ve got a few million dollars to spare, finding this rare card could be worth your time and your dime!
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Mickey Mantle 1951 RC
The 1951 Mickey Mantle card is slightly less valuable than the 1952 version. In mint condition, this card is worth $1.2 million, which isn’t too shabby. Although fans tend to prefer the 1952 card, there’s still a lot of love for the 1951 version, too.
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1910 Shoeless Joe Jackson
Did you know that baseball trading cards have been around for over 100 years? The proof is in the 1910 Shoeless Joe Jackson card, which has an estimated value of $492,000.
Back in 2020, an unknown individual purchased the card for the exact price of $492,000. Whether they have stored it away somewhere or re-sold it on the market remains unknown.
Where Can You Purchase Baseball Cards?
If this article has captured your interest and you’re now eager to start collecting baseball cards, you can do this in various ways.
When searching for baseball cards that have real monetary value, your best option is eBay. eBay is a popular tool used by baseball card fanatics for buying and re-selling the cards they’ve collected. To get the card you want, you will usually have to outbid multiple people. Amazon also occasionally has rare baseball cards listed, so it’s worth taking a look every now and then.
