A LeBron James Rookie Patch Autograph Just Set a New Public Auction Record — $2,928,000
The 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection RPA, one of only 23 ever made, drew 25 bids at Goldin's Goldin 100 Summer Auction, breaking a record that had stood since 2021.
A 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Autograph card of LeBron James — number 09 of just 23 ever made — sold for $2,928,000 after 25 bids at Goldin Auctions' Goldin 100 Summer Auction, which closed June 28, 2026.
The card is graded BGS 9.5 Gem Mint with a perfect Beckett 10 on the autograph and carries a tri-color patch swatch. The sale set a new record for a public auction sale of a LeBron James card, topping the previous mark of $2.46 million, paid in October 2021 for a lower-graded (BGS 8.5) copy of the same RPA design with a /99 print run.
Even that record-setting public price trails recent private sales of the same /23 parallel: a PSA 9 copy with a perfect Auto 10 sold privately for $4.25 million in August 2025, and another BGS 9 copy went for $5.2 million in April 2026 — both well above what this card fetched at public auction.
LeBron's Exquisite rookie patch autographs remain the crown jewels of his card market. The single most expensive LeBron card ever sold is a one-of-one 2006-07 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection card pairing his and Michael Jordan's autographs, which sold for $10 million in September 2025.