Why The $1.7 Million Wilt Chamberlain Rookie Card Was Crossed to PSA 10
Five weeks ago, Goldin announced that they had brokered a private $1.7 million sale of the 1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain card, recently graded a Gem Mint 10 by SGC Grading.
๐จBREAKING NEWS๐จ
โ Goldin (@GoldinCo) September 4, 2024
We have privately sold a @sgcgrading 10 Wilt Chamberlain 1961-62 Fleer Rookie Card for $1.7 Million, making it the most expensive Wilt Chamberlain card of ALL-TIME! ๐๐
Email sell@goldin.co or DM our social accounts if you have the next great collectible thatโฆ pic.twitter.com/dHGpRw20Qg
The story came out that the card was found in the back of an old grocery store, and the store it was consigned through had decided to send it to SGC because of their prior relationship with the grading company.
"This card may well be the most impressive trading card that Iโve ever seen in my time at SGC," SGC President Peter Steinberg said at the time. "To be clear, you will never find an example nicer than this one.โ
On Friday PSA announced that the card had been crossed over to them, and it graded a Gem Mint 10 there as well.
๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฟ ๐ค
โ PSAcard (@PSAcard) October 11, 2024
High-grade vintage doesn't get much more special than this.
Submitted for crossover grading service, this is now just the fourth PSA 10 example of Wilt Chamberlain's 1961 Fleer RC out of more than 2,100 total copies we have authenticated and graded. pic.twitter.com/bXYLqu7JhJ
The buyer, who prefers to stay anonymous, says he crossed it over because of the premium that PSA brings. "The 1961 set is a major PSA registry set so there is a significant premium for PSA cards over any other grading company."
There are 188 sets listed in the PSA registry, and exactly 100 of them are 100% complete.
The #1 1961-62 Fleer set in the PSA registry, owned by user rakosinyc, is 100% complete and features a PSA 9 Wilt Chamberlain. The owner of that set did not have a way to contact them listed. The #2 set is not publicly viewable, and the owner did not respond to a request for comment. The #3 set features a PSA 9 Chamberlain, but also did not have a contact method listed. The #4 set features one of the three other PSA 10 Chamberlains, but does not have photos of it, and the owner also does not have a contact method listed.
PSA's population report shows 2,152 of the Chamberlain graded by them, with three (this is the fourth) receiving their top grade. That's less than 0.2%.
A PSA 9 Chamberlain sold privately via PWCC for $670,000 in 2022. That example received the PWCC-S designation, indicating that it was in the top 5% of all assessed examples of the card in that specific grade. An SGC 9 sold in 2022 via Memory Lane Auctions for $159,483.
A 10 in a PSA slab has never sold publicly.
Does he plan to sell the Chamberlain in the near future? "No," he said. "It's my favorite card I own."
SI Collectibles has reached out to experts to get an estimate of value and will update this article when one comes in.
Mike runs the hobby YouTube channel Junk Wax Hero, where he talks about a lot of different aspects of the hobby from a collectorโs perspective. His most popular series is Attic Find Friday. He also writes a free weekly hobby recap newsletter at junkwaxhero.com. Itโs a cliche, but his favorite card is the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.