The box likely to contain more than twenty cards depicting Wayne Gretzky as a National Hockey League (NHL) rookie is back at auction.
Last February, a buyer named Jack Arshawsky acquired the precious lot for US$3.72 million. The person responsible for the sale, the auctioneer Heritage, however, claims that he never received payment.
• Also read: He no longer wants the famous box of hockey cards he bought for $3.7 million
• Also read: Wayne Gretzky: a box of cards at auction at a premium
Arshawsky, for his part, indicated that he had paid US$3 million and that Heritage was keeping the box while waiting for the rest of the sum.
“I can say that no payment or deposit of any kind has ever been made to Heritage by the winning bidder,” Heritage sports auction director Chris Ivy told The Athletic.
The latter also pointed out that the auction house had discussed options with the consignees of the box and had ultimately decided to relist it.
Heritage usually verifies the creditworthiness of each participant in its auctions. Once one is won, the buyer receives an invoice by email within 12 hours and usually has two weeks to make payment. Still according to Ivy, the case of the box of hockey cards is different because Arshawsky spoke publicly about his purchase without having paid for it.
The famous O-Pee-Chee box from the 1979-1980 season was found intact by a Regina, Saskatchewan family in 2023. Its value is so high because it could contain several copies of the rookie card by Gretzky.
Depending on the condition of each hypothetical card showing “La Merveille” in his first season in the NHL, each copy could be worth between $1,000 and several million dollars.
In 2021, one of these precious objects was sold at auction for $3.75 million due to its perfect condition, i.e. a PSA 10 grade. There are currently only two of these impeccable cards of the famous number 99 in the world.
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