Most Expensive MTG Cards in 2026: Records and Prices
By Owlex · · 7 min read
The most expensive Magic: The Gathering card ever sold is an Alpha Black Lotus graded CGC Pristine 10, which sold for $3 million in a 2024 private sale. The highest public auction price is $2,208,200 for a PSA 10 Alpha Black Lotus at Goldin in September 2026.
Those are the headline numbers, but they describe a tiny market. Only a few cards in the world sell for over $500,000, and almost all of them are perfectly graded copies of Black Lotus. The cards a collector can realistically buy or find are ungraded copies of the Power Nine and the original dual lands, which trade between about $5,000 and $50,000.
Most lists of expensive MTG cards mix private sales, auction results and asking prices, and few say when a price was recorded. This guide separates the record sales from current market prices, dates every figure, shows what a high grade adds, and works out what you would keep after eBay fees.
What is the most expensive MTG card ever sold?
The record is $3 million for an Alpha Black Lotus graded CGC Pristine 10, sold privately in 2024 by Adam Cai of Pristine Collectibles to an undisclosed buyer. At the time it was the only Alpha Black Lotus at that grade in the CGC population report, according to cllct. Some articles date this sale to 2026, but ICv2, Star City Games and Draftsim all place it in 2024.
Every sale in this table except one is a Black Lotus. The exception is a one-of-one modern card.
| Card | Grade | Price (USD) | Type of sale | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lotus, Alpha (1993) | CGC Pristine 10 | $3,000,000 | Private sale, via Pristine Collectibles | 2024 |
| Black Lotus, Alpha (1993) | PSA 10 | $2,208,200 (incl. buyer's premium) | Auction, Goldin 2026 Summer Goldin 100 | September 2026 |
| The One Ring, serialized 001/001 (2023) | PSA 9 | $2,000,000 | Private sale to Post Malone | August 2023 |
| Black Lotus, Beta Artist Proof, signed by Christopher Rush | CGC 8.5 | $615,000 | Auction, Heritage | March 24, 2023 |
| Black Lotus, Alpha, signed by Christopher Rush on the case | PSA 10 | $540,000 (incl. 20% buyer's premium) | Auction, PWCC | March 16, 2023 |
| Same signed PSA 10 Alpha Black Lotus | PSA 10 | $511,100 | Auction, PWCC | January 2021 |
PSA 10 and CGC Pristine 10 are the top grades from the grading companies PSA and CGC. A buyer's premium is the fee an auction house adds on top of the winning bid, so an auction price that includes it is what the buyer actually paid.
The September 2026 Goldin card is one of only three Alpha Black Lotus copies PSA has graded Gem Mint 10, ICv2 reports. ICv2 also notes visible white printer cut marks on its edges, which may have held bidding back.
Why is Black Lotus the most expensive Magic card?
Black Lotus combines extreme power, a tiny first print run and a promise that it will never be reprinted. The card costs nothing to cast and can be sacrificed for three mana of one color, which made it one of the strongest cards in the original 1993 sets.
About 1,100 Black Lotus cards were printed for Alpha, 3,300 for Beta and over 18,000 for Unlimited, the three 1993 printings. Alpha, the first print run, was released on August 5, 1993.
Black Lotus is one of the Power Nine, the nine most powerful cards from those early sets: Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister and the five Moxen (Pearl, Sapphire, Jet, Ruby and Emerald). All nine are on the Reserved List, a list of cards that Wizards of the Coast has said will never be reprinted, first published on March 4, 1996. Supply can only shrink as copies are lost or damaged.
How much are the most expensive MTG cards worth today?
Today's market prices are far lower than the records. As of November 8, 2026, an ungraded Alpha Black Lotus is about $50,465.61 on PriceCharting, and the other Power Nine cards and dual lands in the table below sit between about $5,000 and $9,000 ungraded.
PriceCharting builds these prices from recent sold listings on eBay and other marketplaces. "Ungraded" means a raw card not sealed in a grading company's case, and "Grade 9" is a 9 from any of the main graders.
| Card | Printing | Ungraded (USD) | Grade 9 (USD) | PSA 10 (USD) | Ungraded sales volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lotus | Alpha | $50,465.61 | $76,573.05 | $2,136,878.82 | 2 per year |
| Black Lotus | Beta | $19,627.61 | $43,789.00 | No price | 1 per month |
| Black Lotus | Unlimited | $12,550.00 | $20,967.85 | No price | 1 per week |
| Timetwister | Alpha | $8,704.67 | $23,095.00 | $27,714.00 | 3 per year |
| Underground Sea | Alpha | $6,202.35 | $13,877.48 | No price | 4 per year |
| Ancestral Recall | Alpha | $6,113.71 | $20,400.00 | No price | 2 per year |
| Volcanic Island | Beta | $6,013.59 | $10,550.00 | No price | 1 per month |
| Mox Sapphire | Alpha | $5,650.00 | $28,849.99 | No price | 4 per year |
| Time Walk | Alpha | $5,607.26 | $14,388.00 | No price | 4 per year |
| Mox Jet | Alpha | $5,318.39 | $13,409.00 | $16,091.00 | 4 per year |
Prices are PriceCharting market prices checked on November 8, 2026. "No price" means PriceCharting showed no PSA 10 value for that card.
Two things stand out. First, printing matters more than almost anything else: an ungraded Alpha Black Lotus costs about 4 times an Unlimited copy, and a Beta copy about 1.6 times. Second, the volumes are tiny. Most of these cards sell ungraded only two to four times a year, so one sale can move the price by thousands of dollars.
For how to tell Alpha, Beta and Unlimited apart and price everyday cards, see our guide to how much your Magic card is worth.
What are the most expensive modern MTG cards?
The most expensive modern card is The One Ring serialized 001/001 from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, which Post Malone bought for $2 million in 2023. Star City Games describes it as the first time Wizards of the Coast printed a unique card that could only be opened in a booster pack.
A serialized card carries a printed number, such as 45/77, that shows how many copies exist. These low-count cards are where modern Magic prices now reach five figures.
| Card | Set (year) | Copies | Price (USD) | What the price is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The One Ring, serialized 001/001 | Tales of Middle-earth (2023) | 1 | $2,000,000 | Private sale, PSA 9, August 2023 |
| Traveling Chocobo, Borderless Gold Serialized #551F | Final Fantasy (2025) | 77 (sale title: #45/77) | $83,080 | BGS 9 sale, February 16, 2026 |
| Traveling Chocobo, Borderless Gold Serialized #551F | Final Fantasy (2025) | 77 | $60,000 | PriceCharting Grade 8 price, November 2026 |
| The Mind Stone, Borderless #385 | Marvel Super Heroes (2026) | Not stated | $29,300 | Single ungraded sale, October 9, 2026 |
Treat modern prices with more caution than vintage ones. The Mind Stone figure rests on one sale, and new chase cards often fall sharply in their first months as more copies are opened. Unlike the Power Nine, these cards are not on the Reserved List, although the serial number itself caps the supply of that exact version.
Is it worth grading an expensive MTG card?
A high grade adds a lot to vintage Magic cards. On PriceCharting, a Grade 9 copy of the cards above is worth between 1.5 and 5.1 times the ungraded price as of November 2026.
| Card | Ungraded (USD) | Grade 9 (USD) | Grade 9 premium (USD) | Grade 9 vs raw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mox Sapphire, Alpha | $5,650.00 | $28,849.99 | +$23,199.99 | 5.1x |
| Ancestral Recall, Alpha | $6,113.71 | $20,400.00 | +$14,286.29 | 3.3x |
| Timetwister, Alpha | $8,704.67 | $23,095.00 | +$14,390.33 | 2.7x |
| Black Lotus, Beta | $19,627.61 | $43,789.00 | +$24,161.39 | 2.2x |
| Black Lotus, Alpha | $50,465.61 | $76,573.05 | +$26,107.44 | 1.5x |
The catch is that a 9 is rare for a card from 1993. Alpha cards have steeply rounded corners and most copies were played, so many come back far lower. PriceCharting records a Grade 9 Alpha Black Lotus selling about once a year.
A simple rule: grade a Power Nine card or dual land only if it has no visible whitening, scratches or bends under bright light, and you would be content with the price of a Grade 7 or 8 copy. For tiers and turnaround times, see our comparison of card grading companies and our guide to PSA grading cost.
How much would you keep if you sold one on eBay?
Between about 87% and 96% of the sale price after eBay fees, depending on the price. For collectible card games, eBay charges sellers without a Store 13.25% of the sale up to $7,500, 2.35% on the portion over $7,500, and $0.40 per order over $10, as of November 2026.
| Card (ungraded) | Sale price (USD) | eBay fees (USD) | You keep (USD) | Kept (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lotus, Alpha | $50,465.61 | $2,003.84 | $48,461.77 | 96.0% |
| Black Lotus, Unlimited | $12,550.00 | $1,112.83 | $11,437.17 | 91.1% |
| Timetwister, Alpha | $8,704.67 | $1,022.46 | $7,682.21 | 88.3% |
| Mox Jet, Alpha | $5,318.39 | $705.09 | $4,613.30 | 86.7% |
Here is the Unlimited Black Lotus worked through. 13.25% of the first $7,500 is $993.75. The remaining $5,050 is charged at 2.35%, which is $118.68. Add the $0.40 order fee and the total is $1,112.83, leaving $11,437.17 before shipping and insurance. Because of the lower rate above $7,500, eBay's share falls as the price rises. For a five-figure card, also weigh an auction house such as Goldin or Heritage, which charge the buyer a premium.
How do you check if you own one of the valuable cards?
Find the card's name, then confirm the printing, then look up recent sold prices for that exact printing. The name alone is not enough, because an ungraded Black Lotus is worth anywhere from about $12,550 to $50,466 depending on the printing.
- Check the name against the lists above. The Power Nine and the ten original dual lands, such as Underground Sea and Volcanic Island, are the cards to look for in a 1993 to 1994 collection.
- Identify the printing. Alpha cards have very rounded corners. Unlimited cards have a white border, while Alpha and Beta have a black border. Later reprints such as Revised have a white border and no Power Nine.
- Rule out reproductions. Collectors' Edition and International Edition cards from 1993 have square corners and a gold-bordered back, and they sell for much less.
- Look up sold prices, not asking prices, on PriceCharting or eBay's sold listings, and note how many sales the price is based on.
- Inspect condition under bright light before deciding whether to sell raw or grade.
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Frequently asked
What is the most expensive Magic: The Gathering card ever sold?
An Alpha Black Lotus graded CGC Pristine 10 sold for $3 million in a 2024 private sale brokered by Adam Cai of Pristine Collectibles. The highest public auction price is $2,208,200, including buyer's premium, for a PSA 10 Alpha Black Lotus at Goldin's 2026 Summer Goldin 100 in September 2026.
How much is a Black Lotus worth right now?
As of November 2026, PriceCharting puts an ungraded Alpha Black Lotus at $50,465.61, a Beta copy at $19,627.61 and an Unlimited copy at $12,550.00. A Grade 9 Alpha copy is $76,573.05. PSA has graded only three Alpha copies a 10, so PSA 10 prices rest on very few sales.
How much did Post Malone pay for The One Ring?
Post Malone paid $2 million for the serialized 001/001 The One Ring from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, according to The Notable Group, which represented the seller, Brook Trafton. The sale was announced on August 1, 2023, and the card was graded PSA 9.
What is the most expensive modern MTG card?
The One Ring 001/001 is the most expensive modern card, at $2 million in 2023. Among cards with multiple copies, the Traveling Chocobo Borderless Gold Serialized from the 2025 Final Fantasy set is one of the highest: a BGS 9 copy sold for $83,080 on February 16, 2026, according to PriceCharting.
Why is Black Lotus so expensive?
Black Lotus is one of the most powerful cards ever printed, it was printed only in 1993, and it is on the Reserved List, so Wizards of the Coast has promised never to reprint it. Only about 1,100 copies were printed in Alpha, the first print run, which is why Alpha copies cost about four times as much as Unlimited ones.