This week, an ultra-rare Magic The Gathering Alpha Black Lotus card with a signature by artist Christopher Rush sold for $511,100.00.
Online auction seller PWCC called the gem mint card, graded at perfect PSA 10, “the single finest” Alpha Black Lotus it had ever brokered for sale.
“The fragile black periphery is free of common chipping or wear with four untouched corners and undeniably Gem Mint card stock,” PWCC added. “The card is brilliantly aligned from all sides with some of the cleanest surfaces we’ve seen.”
Christopher Rush, who painted the Black Lotus art, signed the card case, no doubt increasing the value. In 2018, an Alpha Black Lotus went for $87,000, while one fetched $250,000 last year. This latest sale marks the highest price ever paid for the card.
Black Lotus cards are exceedingly scarce, and the Alpha version is among the most desirable among collectors. There were 1,100 copies printed of every rare card in the Alpha set, but it’s not just the general scarcity that makes them valuable. It’s difficult to find the 1993 cards in such pristine shape. According to Hipsters of the Coast, this is only one of seven known gem mint PSA 10 Alpha Black Lotus cards to exist.