A Connor McDavid rookie card that was up for auction this week broke records when it sold for a massive $135,811 USD, over double the previous record that was held by another card featuring the same Edmonton Oilers forward.
The Lelands auction for the card closed on Friday evening, with the final price coming in following 18 bids over the course of a one-month period.
That final bid was set at $113,176 USD, but then came to a total of $135,811.20 (more than $184,000 CDN) including the buyer’s premium, according to officials representing Lelands auctions. This makes it officially the most expensive modern hockey card in history.
The card is a 2015-16 Upper Deck The Cup Connor McDavid Rookie Auto Patch card. It’s a thick-stock, signed card that also features a small patch of the player’s actual jersey.
Experts say this specific card brought in such high bids due to its number: it is 97 out of 99 McDavid cards in the series, the same number the player wears. The Upper Deck The Cup series is also one of the most sought-after card series when it comes to modern cards.
This is actually the third time a McDavid card has taken the most expensive modern card record: a previous rookie card from the same series featuring the player holds the previous modern record. It sold for $55,655 USD in May 2018. Before that, another McDavid card had held the record following a sale in 2017.
Modern trading cards are considered to be any card printed after 1986.