Paul Skenes 1-of-1 MLB rookie debut patch card sells for $1.11 million at auction

Going, going, gone: Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes‘ 1/1 Topps MLB Rookie Debut Patch card was sold at the Fanatics Collect March Premier Auction for $1,110,000 on Thursday after accumulating 64 bids.

The seller of the card is the family of an 11-year-old boy who pulled it from a box of 2024 Topps Chrome Update that he purchased for Christmas in 2024. The PIrates offered the young collector a massive package that included 30 years’ worth of season tickets behind home plate and two signed Skenes jerseys. The offer was turned down, and the collector’s patience paid off in the end.

The family intends to use the majority of funds towards college for their two kids, with “a little used to purchase more cards,” according to a statement released by Fanatics on Thursday evening.

Skenes’ card is the highest-selling Rookie Debut Patch card of all time, surpassing the reported $150,000 for Anthony Volpe’s as part of a bounty from Dave & Adam’s Card World in July 2024, and it’s the most his card has ever sold for, leapfrogging the $123,220 2023 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects Autographs Superfractor 1/1 PSA 7 sold in September 2024.

Among active MLB players, only Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout has had a card sold for more.

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