If there is one iconic rookie card of Tom Brady, look no further than the 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket serial-numbered to 100 cards. PWCC’s February Premier auction has the signed card 91/100 graded in a BGS 8.5 grade with a 10 Beckett Autograph grade.

With more than 4 days to go, the bid is already up to $1.7 million. While the 8.5 grade is there, the presentation is better than the grade appears because the centering is 9.5 and the edges are graded with a 9. BGS assigned an 8.5 grade on the corners due to minor wear on the top left and bottom left, and the surface was given an 8 grade in the BGS scale.

According to PWCC’s own description of the card:

The 2000 Panini Contenders Championship Autograph Tom Brady rookie resides among the single most important, and desired trading cards ever issued during the modern era. The Championship ticket parallel to the base issue is much more difficult to obtain with a short print run of one-hundred and possesses an exceedingly fragile refractor right edge which has become inherently problematic since its release.

Image below taken from PWCC Marketplace master images.

While some auction houses list this Tom Brady rookie as investments, it is hard to argue that this card has not been deemed “for investment” even if it were not listed that way. After all, this card has been sold fractionally and there is just more demand than there is supply. PWCC added:

There are simply not enough of these assets to be shared among investors, and as the trading card market continues to expand globally, assets of this caliber are expected to continue their rise on a never-ending upward trajectory. A heroic offering of a living immortal, exceptionally impactful to American culture and embodies the best of what trading cards have to offer to investors.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. If this card is already at $1.7 million, it’s easy to argue that this capital could have gone a long way if it were invested in stocks.

We wanted to take a look at other sales of this card and related cards for comparison.

The PWCC Premier Auction for August 2021 featured a 2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady #144 rookie card graded PSA/DNA 10 AUTO PSA 10 GEM MINT. That card sold for $2.88 million. PWCC’s August Premier Auction also included a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Tom Brady Rookie AUTO /100 BGS 8 which sold for $1.020 million.

Heritage Auctions sold a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Tom Brady Rookie #144 (34/100) BGS NM-MT+ 8.5/10 for $1.59 million on May 6, 2021.

Goldin has sold three of these cards:

• $1.68 million for #95/100 in April 2021
• $1.50 million for #62/100
• $1.08 million for #5/100

Lelands sold a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Rookie Ticket #144 Tom Brady Rookie Autograph (8/100) BGS MINT 9 and autograph grade of 10 for $3,107,372.40. That sale was in its Mid-Spring Classic 2021 auction which ended June 4, 2021. Lelands also previously sold a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Rookie Ticket #144 Tom Brady Rookie autograph card (99/100) graded BGS NM-MT+ 8.5 and graded 9 for the autograph. Its final price was listed as $2,252,854.80.