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Sun May 01 05:58pm EDT

Wayne Gretzky rookie card sells for record $94,613 price

By Sean Leahy

Sports cards have turned into big business over the past 25 years and as time has gone on, certain ones have garnered interest beyond the rest, such as the famous Honus Wagner T-206 that has enamored collectors for years and saw one sold for $2.35 million in 2007.

California-based SCP Auctions listed a 1979-80 Wayne Gretzky O-Pee-Chee rookie card in their latest auction and the hockey treasure sold for a final bidding price of $94,163, a record for a modern hockey card passing the $80,000 bid for the same exact card in 2006. The all-time record for a hockey card is a tie between a 1910-11 C56 Newsy Lalonde and a 1911-12 C55 Georges Vezina that both sold for $100,000.

Helping increase the card's value was the fact that it was graded a GEM MINT 10, a pristine rating, by evaluators from PSA, a well-known grading company.

Rookie cards were the first valuable find in packs before companies began inserting pieces of game-used and game-worn memorabilia. Gretzky's always going to be collectable and his rookie cards are some of the most sought-after in the industry, but very few can compare to the condition that the one sold at the SCP auction was in.

Another piece of Gretzky history sold during the auction was No. 99's official contract from the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League from 1977, which went for $22, 039.20

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