Tom Brady's second 1-of-1 rookie card sells for $396K at auction
Another piece of Tom Brady memorabilia has sold for a pretty penny — but it once again comes with a twist.
Brady's 2000 Fleer Showcase Masterpiece rookie card — the only one of its kind and graded 8.5 NM-MT+ by Beckett Grading Services — sold Thursday for $396,000 with collectibles marketplace PWCC, per ESPN.
Except it wasn't the only one of its kind.
Another 1-of-1 of the exact same Brady rookie card exists with Professional Sports Authenticator, Inc., although it is not for sale.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened when it comes to highly sought-after Brady collectibles.
In March, what was deemed the final touchdown ball of Brady's 22-year NFL career, sold for more than half a million dollars — $518,628 — at an auction on sports memorabilia site Lelands.
The seven-time Super Bowl-winning QB announced his unretirement just hours later. It was later revealed that the sale was voided.
Earlier, in February, on the heels of Brady's retirement announcement, an autographed Brady rookie card sold for $2.3 million, making it the third-most expensive football card ever behind Patrick Mahomes' autographed 1-of-1 rookie card and a better-graded version of the same Brady rookie card.
This is yet another case of Brady memorabilia being sold with some lingering questions.
How did two one-of-a-kind Brady rookie cards come to exist?
In the early days of serial numbering, card manufacturers occasionally printed multiple 1-of-1s as they experimented with productions or if one was ruined, according to Fleer and Upper Deck. Those duplicate cards were never supposed to leave the factory, however, it appears somehow this one did.
Beckett Grading Services confirmed that their Brady rookie card was indeed graded and placed in its slab on Feb. 4, 2004, and confirmed its authenticity. The PSA-graded version is believed to be authentic, as well.
The former owner of the BGS-graded version, now the seller, purchased the card on eBay for roughly $2,000 in 2005 after Brady led the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl victories in four seasons.
