Just over a month after the discovery of an ultra-rare Magic the Gathering trading card depicting the famous “One Ring” from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series, the one-off card was purchased by none other than rapper Post Malone, after receiving offers from collectors worldwide at more than $US2 million.
Key Facts
A video of a giddy Post Malone receiving the card was posted on TikTok by a user named Brook Trafton, who claims he found the one-of-a-kind card, writing that Post Malone was “the first person who came to mind” after he found it.
Trafton, a self-proclaimed lifelong Magic the Gathering player, called the sale “life changing,” and though he did disclose the details of the transaction, the card reportedly solicited offers of up to $US2.2 million ($3.36 million).
A $US2.2 million price would make it one of the most expensive cards ever sold, behind a group of rare baseball, basketball and hockey cards, including a $US12.6 million Mickey Mantle rookie card sold last year and a $US6.97 million Honus Wagner card sold in 2021, as well as a $5.2 million Illustrator Pikachu Pokemon card sold in 2021.
A Twitter account for trading card grading company Professional Sports Authenticator posted a photo late last month of the card, which depicts a ring engulfed in flames, inscribed with fictional Elvish lettering from The Lord of The Rings, with the caption: “The One Ring is found, authenticated, and now rules them all.”
Surprising Fact
The card, like the titular ring in the Tolkien series that gave villain Suaron invincibility and drove men—and hobbits—to insanity until its ultimate destruction in the fires of Mount Doom, created a mad hunt to find it, with a Spanish card store owner offering $US2.2 million and a trip to Spain, the Wall Street Journal reported. Finding the ultra rare card, part of a specialty Lord of the Rings set released in June by gaming giant Hasbro, was next to impossible, with odds at 0.00003%.
Forbes Valuation
Post Malone, whose real name is Austin Richard Post, ranked 28th on Forbes’ 2020 list of the world’s top 100 highest-paid celebrities, making roughly $US60 million, including more than $1.3 million in revenue per city on his tour that was shuttered by the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Post Malone is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee and a three-time American Music Awards winner, including for favorite male pop or rock artist in 2018, as well as favorite rap or hip-hop album for both “Beerbongs & Bentleys” (2018) and “Hollywood’s Bleeding” (2019).
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
