NEW YORK: An autographed Serena Williams rookie card printed in 2003 has become the most expensive women’s sports card after fetching US$44,280 (S$59, 650) at an auction last weekend, New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions said. The previous record was US$34,440 for a rookie card of former US football player Mia Hamm sold in June. ESPN reported the Williams card was bought by alternative-asset trading platform Alt on behalf of a private client. The 40-year-old Williams, who is still hunting a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title, has not competed since limping out of her first-round match at Wimbledon in June. “People are accepting women’s trading cards as collectables,” Ken Goldin, executive chairman and founder of Goldin Auctions, said of the card, which features two swatches of match-worn apparel and features Williams’ on-card signature. “We’ve seen that gradually increase over the past three years, with a heavy increase in the second half of 2020 up through 2021. On forum boards and social media, I see people looking for women’s sports cards. The effect you have with Serena is that there are a lot of people putting together GOAT collections. They want Pele, Ali, Jordan, Tiger, Brady … and they include Serena. I think that’s the single biggest impact that is lifting her cards above all other women athletes.” While most record-setting cards feature high grades — on a scale of 1-10, more often than not, from grading companies PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) or BGS (Beckett Grading Services) — the Williams card is graded a PSA 5. The card is numbered 1/100. Per PSA’s population report, it is, however, the only known 5 grade from PSA. “This particular card is serial numbered 1 out of 100,” said Goldin, noting how a card’s serial number matching the player’s uniform number can sometimes double the value. But they don’t have uniform numbers in tennis. It’s signed [and a similar] unsigned Serena rookie card went for $12,300.” On one hand, while the Williams sale may seem like good news for women’s sports in the hobby, it also illustrated the existing and vast disparity. In the same Goldin Elite auction, a Pepekachu — an illustration depicting an amalgam of the Pokemon Pikachu and Pepe the Frog meme — NFT, one of 125 minted on Counterparty (XCP), sold for the exact same price. Additionally, a Naomi Osaka 2020 Topps Transcendent 1-of-1 autograph went for $40,590, the most expensive Osaka card of all time.