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.
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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+.