1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski

Bronko Nagurski was one of the earliest stars in the NFL. During an era where players took both sides of the field, Nagurski was a force to be reckoned with, destroying opponents as a defensive end and carrying defenders as a running back. Throughout his career he would win two NFL championships and would be regarded as one of the greatest players in NFL history.  In 1935, National hicle began inserting football cards into their packs of gum. The 36-card set that Chicle produced is extremely rare, and many of the cards from the set are heavily desired by collectors. Bronko Nagurski’s rookie card from the same year is by far the most valuable card  in the set, and one of the most valuable football cards in all of sport card collecting when found in high grade. The incredibly high demand for one of the holy grails of football cards makes it a very sound investment.

There are only 130 PSA-graded examples of this card in existence, so it is extremely scarce. High grade examples, however, are even rarer with no existing examples at PSA 10, only one example at PSA 9, and only six examples graded at PSA 8, making the high grade examples unbelievably valuable. One mint example sold in 2006 for $240,000 and in 2011 for $350,000. Although these type of cards are probably unattainable for most collectors, the high profile sales of these cards cause the prices for all grades to increase. A PSA 7 sold at auction in 2010 for over $20,000. In 2007, a PSA 5 sold for more than $5,500. As one of the most sought after cards on the market, these cards continue and will forever demand extremely high prices.

The scarcity of these cards accompanied by their overwhelming desire among collectors makes them a very stable and potentially profitable investment. Auction is the major factor that will most likely determine profit. If two bidders get into a bidding war, the price for such a desirable, valuable card will skyrocket, illustrated by the $90,000 increase in price for the same card in just five years. Although auctions can result in a loss, if conditions suitable to the seller are assured, the bids should go higher and higher. These cards will almost certainly increase significantly in price, and, even at lower grades, each high profile auction only leads to more interest and demand. As a long term investment that can return massive profits at auction, the 1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski is an extremely strong investment.