Most Expensive Magic: The Gathering Card
Written by: jeremy Filed Under: Art, Collectibles, World on March 17th, 2008Ever wonder what someone does with a mathematics degree other than teaching math? Richard Garfield, while studying combinatorial mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, decided to apply his arithmetic skills to game design. He earned his PhD in 1993, the same year role-playing game publisher Wizards of the Coast first published a card game of his design. That game would go on to become their flagship game, winning awards from the likes of Mensa and the Origin Games Fair, and would eventually lead to Wizards claiming a patent on collectible card games. It was called Magic: The Gathering and to this day it’s enjoyed by over six million players all over the world.
The game, in which players take on the roles of dueling wizards, has spawned an organized tournament circuit, Duelists’ Convocation international or DCI, and a field of professional players. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the game, however, is the secondary market formed around valuable cards. Certain cards become highly valued through rarity or utility and may be purchased for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The world’s most expensive Magic: The Gathering card is an Alpha Black Lotus. The Black Lotus, a particularly powerful card in game play, was released in two limited sets—Alpha and Beta. The Alpha set, limited to only 1.1 million cards as opposed to Beta’s 4 million cards, consists of some of the rarest MtG cards out there. This particular Alpha Black Lotus was given the highest possible PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) grading, GEM MINT 10, and features artist Christopher Rush’s signature. It’s currently owned by renowned MtG authority Daniel Chang.
An exact figure on the price of the most valuable Magic: The Gathering card is unavailable, but collectors have paid $15,000 for lesser Black Lotus cards.
Similar Posts
- World’s Most Expensive Pokémon Cards
- Most Expensive Trivial Pursuit Game
- Most Expensive Baseball Glove
- Most Expensive Baseball Card
- Most Expensive Video Game
- Most Expensive Monopoly Set
Liked this post? Subscribe via RSS feed or follow on twitter, right now!
Holy heck! I still have my alpha black lotus i pulled from a booster pack back in 93! It isnt autographed, and its a little worn, but still decent. I might just sell that sucker and go travel europe for a bit! Golly!
Actually, this is incorrect. The most expensive MTG card is a missprint hurricane. The so-called blue Hurricane.
It was in the Summer Magic print run of Revised edition. The run was recalled and only a few boosterboxes survived, so there are only 5 or 6 of those cards.
It sells for thousands of dollars. I know of one for sell on the internet and it goes for 6999,00 euros.
Bcd is basically correct. Summer Magic cards beat Black Lotus, though I think Serendib Efreet is worth more. For now, it’s something like Efreet goes for $6000, Hurricane for $5000 and absolute primo Lotus might go for $4000+.
is that why you read in the post that the black lotus was sold for 15k?
The author states “lesser Black Lotus cards” have sold for $15,000, referring to a normal PSA 10 Alpha Black Lotus (of which 5 exist in such grade) and not the aforementioned, one of a kind, PSA/DNA 10. I assure you that this gem would easily command $25,000 minimum with an unknown price ceiling. In 2005, Darren Adams (a high profile card dealer) paid $20,000 for his BGS 10 Beta Black Lotus because he knew he could resell for more (he’s currently asking $49k). There was a brief time when Beta was more sought after than Alpha, but that was during the dark days when DCI banned Alpha from tournament play. The fact is, Alpha is 4x rarer than Beta, according to the author. (Wikipedia states Beta had an even larger print run of 7.3 million cards versus 2.6 million for Alpha)
Concerning blue Hurricane from Summer Magic:
The intrinsic value of a Hurricane is nil and the vast majority of collectors & players will naturally favor black bordered cards over white bordered, for a white border explicitly denotes a “reprint”. Furthermore, the highest grade of a blue Hurricane is only PSA 9. Now seriously, who in their right mind would rather have a less than pristine condition misprint of “uncommon” print rarity that was a 5th generation white bordered reprint derived from Revised Edition? (Revised being a faded reprint of Unlimited, minus the Power 9)
Alpha –> Beta –> Unlimited –> Revised –> Summer Magic
The Black Lotus is not only the most powerful & intrinsically valuable magic card (highest utility in any deck), this particular specimen comes from Magic’s earliest set (Alpha), is blessed by the artist’s DNA certified signature which was tastefully placed to perfection and received the highest possible grade of PSA 10. Now that’s truly a one of a kind treasure that will only increase in value over time, ergo, the most expensive magic card.
There’s my 2 cents…
“The Black Lotus is not only the most powerful & intrinsically valuable magic card (highest utility in any deck), this particular specimen comes from Magic’s earliest set (Alpha), is blessed by the artist’s DNA certified signature which was tastefully placed to perfection and received the highest possible grade of PSA 10. Now that’s truly a one of a kind treasure that will only increase in value over time, ergo, the most expensive magic card.”
not to mention the Black Lotus is the key card that people think about when they think of magic the gathering
THE STAPLE CARD
that should be in 99% of decks
the holy grail of Magic the Gathering
the Black Lotus
I’m an ebay addict and last time I checked, (now)beta black lotus was going hundreds more than alpha. But betas worth less because its got more print and its not older than alpha.
Why is beta worth more on ebay though?
I Know It’s Expensive
Co’z My Big Bro
Have 3 Of That Card
So Your tellin that
it costs A Lot of money?
Most expensive graded card yes possibly (if it was unsigned it would likely be worth more)
but the Summer Efreet is the most expensive single playable card. (some of the Rare Garfield cards could sell for more) Summer Hurricane being an uncommon and more available then the Summer Rares have dropped in price. Summer Underground Sea tend to sell for more then the Hurricane these days.
um…yeah i dont belive this is a real chris autograph card cause chris lived with me for the past like 6months and he never signd his stuff there ever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i would now so yeah i have a real one and i have gotten a lot more for his other cards that i have sold!!!!
Wonder how many fakes are being sold on ebay, 300$ ++ for a fake and many will never know
Shawn is correct on lots of things. Where he is very, very wrong is this diagram:
Alpha –> Beta –> Unlimited –> Revised –> Summer Magic
For cards that exist in all of the sets (for example, a Bird of Paradise), the value of a Summer Bird is several orders of magnitude higher than Alpha or Beta. This is entirely due to their extreme rarity. Even horrible commons, like, Pestilence, go for over $100 in their Summer version. In fact almost every Summer Magic rare is worth more than almost every Alpha/Beta rare. Simple rarity.
Well, the problem is that it’s only for collectors as it is neither type 2 nor extended and is also restricted.
yea the signature totaly ruined the cards value, not only because it could be fake but the artist skribling his name on it is less preferable to a clean card.
it’s okay, you’re all wrong. The most valuable magic card is the one of a kind 1996 world championship card which (since the current owner who bought it for an obscene amount refuses to sell it for any price), is priceless
Well the Lotus is still a great card even eith the signature,aand you think that the PSA wouldnt know if it was fake or not?
The most expensive card is a black lotus, a OIL-guy from middle orient bought for ONE MILLION DOLLARS. I remember, in 1996, I think, I read this in a RPG magazine…
It was mint 10 and with a Richad Garfild signature…
THIS IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE MTGO CARD SOLD…
I thought splendid genesis was the most expensive
@ NeoFenix, there are many Black Lotus cards, there is only 1 x Shichifukujin Dragon card and 1 x 1996 World Champion card ever made ( even the proof copies and plates used for printing were destroyed )
@ Adam, there are +/- 100 copies made of both Splendid Genesis and Fraternal Exaltation, and there are 3 cards of the Proposal , so they are extremely rare, but not as rare as Shichifukujin Dragon and 1996 World Champion, as they are unique ( as in one of a kind ).
But, if we talk about public available cards, then yes, the Black Lotus is the most expensive and rare card.
Beta goes often for more, because they have rounded corners as opposed to alpha which are squared.
I Think That Everythin Is Dominated For Money. But Us, The Players Have One Thing That Rich Guy`s Mostly Don`t. PASION. Sayim This I Thing Black Lotus Is Expensive
MTG IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the most expensive yu-gi-oh card is more valuable. “Tyler the great warrior” – ther is only one of it in the whole world. o.O
Update on current market value of the Most Expensive Magic: The Gathering Card…
The owner of the PSA/DNA 10 Alpha Black Lotus was recently offered $19,000 from a dealer but declined the offer and did not bother with a counter. It’s safe to assume that the dealer had a buyer willing to pay more than $19,000 as his intentions should be to profit on the spread.
@ Gryfalia: I’m not sure how you managed to misinterpret my diagram and I thought I made this abundantly clear in my original post, but I’ll try to clarify further. I was referring to the print order from oldest to newest (from 1st generation to 5th generation) which is indeed as follows:
Alpha –> Beta –> Unlimited –> Revised –> Summer Magic
I understand your point that you were making though. You’re saying that this 5th printing had a very low distribution which resulted in high rarity. Yes, this rarity has yielded premium prices for Summer Magic, but nothing from Summer Magic can come close to the crown jewel featured in this article as far as actual market value is concerned. Just like the American Tobacco Company could reprint a Honus Wagner or Topps could reprint Mickey Mantle cards years later. Topps did reprint Mickey Mantle but 1952 was the original, and so the original has always been the most sought after and prized. This is no anomaly though, when it comes to comic books, coins, vintage cars, or virtually any worthwhile collectible, the earliest edition in the best condition will typically command the highest prices.
Yes, Summer Magic was an exceptionally limited print run, but that’s because WotC employees dropped the ball with the quality control of this 2nd print run of Revised edition. Summer Magic is the red headed stepchild that was never meant to be. The set was so inherently flawed with color issues and littered with typos that they deemed the product worthy only of destruction. There was even a colossal fumble with printing Hurricane with a blue border instead of the proper green border. Now if you don’t mind paying premium prices for 5th edition misprints and blunders, then the abomination known as Summer Magic is for you! Before someone jumps me for calling Summer Magic the 5th edition, I’m referring to the chronological revision and print run of Magic and not the “5th Edition” core set that was released in ’97.
@ cyberwiz: Beta magic cards almost NEVER sell for more than an Alpha of a comparable grade, but apparently this misinformation pervades the casual players and entry level collectors of Magic even to this day. The vast majority of today’s serious buyers of high-end Magic cards are no longer ignorant of the significant rarity advantage that Alpha holds over Beta. Alpha boosters consistently sell for more than Beta boosters. Alpha starter decks consistently sell for more than Beta starter decks. You can frequently find a PSA 10 Beta Power 9 on eBay, but many, many months will pass before you see an Alpha edition Power 9 in PSA 10 surface.
You are correct about Beta having round corners, for Beta possesses the same curve/cut as current day editions. However, Alpha had the roundest corners of them all with the most prominent slope. You must be confusing the square corners with the Collector’s Edition sets which had a Domestic and International version.
One had of one had said the most expensive magic card. to date the 1996 world chapion had gotten more money at 17,500 and their is only one made and it was made for the 1996 world chap but he sold it just last month. concerning the blake lotus the most money one has pull was11,500 did is only 3 know gem mint 10 and i am looking at one , there are 5 bccg mint 10 out their. but their are 4 cards that are consider worth more money and on 1 of each copy was ever made. 3 of them was made by richard for his family, one to ask his wife in marriage onefor his childen, one for a joke and the 1996 world champ. If you are willy to pay 50,00 for a gem mint 10 lotus mine is for sale and i have the hole power 9 set in gem mint 10 so offer a way.
and the blue hurricane value dropped alot since it is on the band list. its worth is around 650 my brother bgought one lasy week for that so thats how much it is worth. cards are only worth what someone are willing to pay for them.
If he got a blue hurricane for 650.00 it’s likely a fake. Better get it authenticated!
I tried to buy a Blue Hurricane back in ‘96. Needless to say I fell short on that one, as it sold for more than $4000. Ah well. However, I do currently own an Alpha Black Lotus, but I’d say its only in Excellent condition. I paid $400 thru Toad and Troll… Its my baby =)
I would love to know how many (roughly) Alpha Black Lotuses are still in existance. I know that back in the early M:tG days, players played Iron Man style…Or the Moms who threw their kids collection out.. or the flood of a major warehouse that stored a lot of cards…. I think only 1100 Alpha sets were printed..
are miscut cards worth anything or should I toss them. They were cut so that the next card is partly visible?
I think the 1.000.000$ for a Garfield signed Lotus is probably a fake story. In 1996, no one would have paid so much.
Here you can get a Garfield signed Lotus in not so good condition for 2.000$ from a seller that seems to be serious.
http://cgi.ebay.de/MTG-Beta-BLACK-LOTUS-RICHARD-GARFIELD-SIGNED-EX-x1_W0QQitemZ350185594793QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5188b01fa9
To prove all guys that a Lotus is more expensive than a Blue Hurricane compare this BGS 10 89.000$ Lotus with that 5.000$ Blue Hurricane (but, just NM condition) …
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220399381310
http://cgi.ebay.com/Blue-Hurricane-ID-1279-NM-M-MTG-Edgar-Summer-Magic_W0QQitemZ270417788345QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ef627fdb9
Crazy prices…
I had Christopher Rush sign my beta Black Lotus in Fairfax, VA at a signing in ~1995 or 1996. He signed it in a silver glittery ink. My father was a collector that bought Magic by the box (usually 5-6 boxes per release). Me and my brothers collected for him to put together sets. We sold sets a lot, easily making over $1,000 per set. Lets say my father had a fun time in vegas with all the profit. We don’t own the signed Black Lotus because we offloaded it in 1995 or 1996. Chris was a nice guy – shirt, blond hair and roundish glasses. Very good artist too.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080329191821AA7fFTV
If you want the two truly most expensive cards in Magic: The Gathering, they unfortunately have no set price. This is because they are unique, and only one copy of each exist. These cards are:
1996 World Champion
and
Shichifukujin Dragon
both illustrated by Christopher Rush.
“The 1996 World Champion was given to Tom Chanpheng of Australia for winning the 1996 World Championship. The card is encased in lucite, apparently floating above a silver globe. In 2001 it was sold to a private collector. One sheet of this card was printed, but all other copies were destroyed. Rumor has it that artist proofs of this card exist.
The Shichifukujin Dragon was created to celebrate the opening of the Japan DCI Tournament Center in Tokyo, Japan. All copies except for one were destroyed. The remaining Shichifukujin Dragon has been encased at the Tournament Center for public view together with the original artwork of the card. The Tournament Center was closed on February, the 28th in 2003, and the card was moved to the Hobby Japan Head Office where it currently resides. Shichifukujin is the name of the Seven Deities of Good Fortune of Japanese mythology.”
The 1996 World Champion Card was sold for approximately $10,000 USD still in the trophy (keep in mind this is not adjusted for inflation, which increases the price even more). Serious Magic collectors nowadays would ostensibly pay far more for either card today, given the thriving popularity of Magic.
Other incredibly rare cards include the cards that Richard Garfield had printed for certain events in his life, namely his proposal to his wife and the birth of his two children. Information for these cards can be found here: http://www.magiclibrarities.net/rarities-garfield.html
The most expensive non-error card is considered to be a signed, mint-condition Alpha Black Lotus, and can possibly be worth over $15,000.
The most expensive error card is indeed the Summer Magic Blue Hurricane, also valued highly.
I first heard about these cards in an issue of either Scrye or Inquest years ago (can’t remember which) and was fascinated by them. Hope this answers your question!
Source(s):
http://www.magiclibrarities.net/rarities-unique.html
http://most-expensive.net/magic-gathering-card
Hello,
I do agree with the article of the 3 special promo cards – they are extremely RARE and scarce in comparison to the Black Lotus. However, I believe the debate of what is the RAREST comes from eyes of the collector. Since most collectors in MTG recognize the Black Lotus as the most important, powerful and valuable MTG card, I believe it is the most expensive. I graded the BGS 10 Beta Black Lotus, BGS 9.5 Alpha Black Lotus, Several PSA 10 & BGS 9.5 Beta Black Lotus’s and I can tell you the value has only increased throughout the years, amongst the recession time.
Of course, any card’s price tag depends on what a buyer is willing to pay and from market news, the BGS 10 Beta Black Lotus still holds the highest sale ever. The 2nd highest sale is the BGS 9.5 Alpha Black Lotus for $18,750.00.
Unless one of the promo or summer cards are noted as a sale of more, for now the Black Lotus remains the elite icon of MTG.