The 10 Most Valuable Trading Cards On Earth

Collecting trading cards is a fun and interesting hobby for millions of children – but for some capital-rich individuals, it's also a great investment. Bearing that out are these ten collectible trading cards, which rank as the most valuable in the world. These cards range from one of a kind collectors' items to vintage cards that were only designed to sell bubble gum but are now worth as much as $500.

There are many different types of trading cards too – the ones on this list are mostly playing cards for games like Pokemon or Magic: The Gathering, but there are collector's markets around virtually every kind of trading card imaginable. The most obvious is baseball cards, but there are also trading cards for pretty much every sport: NASCAR, football, basketball, golf, even more niche sports like curling or figure skating have trading cards.

Every once in a while, a trading card series will become inexplicably popular, and the race will be on to grab up as much of the valuable cards as you can. For instance, back in the late 90s, Pokemon cards were all the rage, and many of the cards are worth thousands of dollars today. It's just like with any collectors' item: As long as something is scarce, and there's a large demand for it, you can get big bucks for it if you're lucky enough to own one.

Of course, it should be pointed out that the vast majority of any type of trading card aren't going to be worth much more than you paid for them. It's the ones that are truly rare and hard to find that end up being worth the most money. Still, if you click on the gallery below and do a little browsing, maybe you'll be lucky enough to have a mint condition copy of one of them sitting around your house!

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Joseph Gibson

Joseph Gibson is a freelance writer currently based in Austin, TX. His main interests are movies, music, books, and other things you can watch, read, or listen to. Follow Joseph on Google+.