Posted By:
PaulThe BMW website is asking $20K for this card because it has been graded a 92. That is a higher grade than the NrMt grade listed in the Standard Catalog at $1100. Personally, I would never pay 19x the Near Mint value for one that is slightly nicer than Near Mint. In fact, in my personal opinion, you'd have to be insane to do so. But there are a few collectors out there who insist upon having the very best condition of a particular card. And these folks will pay 19x the book price or more. There have been 1952 Topps commons with a book value around $100 that have sold for several thousands. As you can see from the BMW website, BMW's inventory is geared mostly to this type of collector.