Rare Michael Jordan memorabilia fetches 'record' price on eBay

If you have a spare $350,000 US dollars burning a hole in your wallet, you might like to splash on a piece of basketball history.

That was the princely sum one cashed-up collector dropped on a very special basketball card in an eBay auction on Wednesday night.

Dubbed the ‘holy grail’ of basketball cards, the 1997-98 Precious Metal Gems (PMG) Green Michael Jordan card is one of only 10 to be made.

The card’s new owner forked out a cool $493,000 AUD for it, believed to be among the highest prices ever paid for a piece of basketball card.

Brent Huigens, who handled the auction for the card’s owner, told the Chicago Tribune the sale was unprecedented.

“We call it a ‘holy grail’ because it’s so scarce and so desired that you just frankly never see it,” he said.

““This is the first one I’ve ever handled in my life.

“Most people have never even seen an image of one.”

The editor of Sports Collectors Daily, Rich Mueller, told the Tribune he believed the sale was a record for Jordan memorabilia of its type.

“I believe it’s the highest-selling Jordan card of all time,” he said.

“His rookie card, even a PSA 10, (which is) gem mint — there aren’t a ton of those around — typically sells for $20,000 to $25,000.

“There have been other pieces of Jordan memorabilia — game-worn shoes, important game-worn jerseys — that have sold for pretty strong prices.

“But in terms of cards, that’s unprecedented.”

Professional Sports Authenticator president Steve Sloan confirmed it’s the third-highest public auction sale for a basketball card, behind a mint-condition 1969 Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) rookie card ($501,900) and a 1948 George Mikan rookie card ($403,664 through SCP Auctions).

“Basketball cards rarely surpass $100,000, let alone $200,000, so the final price realised is remarkable,” Sloan said.

“It’s the combination of rarity of this particular insert, the popularity of the set overall and star power of Jordan that drove this price.”