Magic: The Gathering’s most iconic card, Black Lotus, has reclaimed the record for most expensive single ever sold, with a copy selling for $3 million.
Less than one year after Post Malone broke the previous record with his purchase of the serialized 001/001 The One Ring from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth for $2 million USD, Grading company CGC shared a post to their Instagram page declaring that a Black Lotus from Alpha that they had graded a Pristine 10 had sold for $3 million. According to CGC’s post, then owner of the card, Adam Cai of Pristine Collectibles, sold it to a “mysterious” unnamed buyer. Star City Games’ GM of Sales, Ben Bleiweiss, was able to confirm with Cai directly that the sale amount was accurate, solidifying that the record had indeed been broken.
In its infancy, Magic: The Gathering was a very different game. Gameplay in the early 1990s often featured no protection from card sleeves and card storage methods were far less efficient. Because of this, cards from the game’s earliest sets that managed to survive the last 30 years tend to have substantial wear and tear. Cards in general from Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited found in grading-worthy condition are already exceedingly rare, so a copy of Magic’s most iconic card, from its first set that is in perfect condition is where the the hefty price-tag comes from.
