Sports cards

Relic Card

Also written: Relic · Memorabilia card · Jersey card

A card with a piece of physical material embedded in it — jersey, bat, puck, glove or ball.

Physical formThe card itself is made differently

A relic card has a piece of physical material embedded in a window cut into the card — jersey fabric most often, but also bat wood, puck rubber, glove leather, base or ball material, and occasionally stranger things. The card is built around the swatch rather than printed with it.

Read the back before you value it

Manufacturers state, in small print on the back, what the material actually is, and the wording is the whole claim:

• Game-used — material from a garment or item used in an actual game. The strongest claim, and the one that supports a premium.
• Player-worn — worn by the player, but not necessarily in a game. Frequently a photo-shoot or event jersey.
• Event-worn / event-used — used at an official event rather than in competition.
• Some products state only that the material is associated with the league or the team, with no link to the player at all.

None of these are dishonest — they are printed plainly on the card — but they describe very different objects, and a listing that just says "jersey card" is not telling you which one you are buying.

What moves the price

• The subject, as always, first.
• Patch versus plain swatch. Multi-colour patches with a logo, letter or seam sell far above single-colour cloth from the same card.
• Whether it is also autographed — see RPA.

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