Is It Worth Money?

All questions / Trading cards and toys

Are Magic: The Gathering cards worth money?

Magic: The Gathering began in 1993; the borders, the corners and the set symbol help tell the oldest printings from later ones. Cards from recent sets, especially commons, usually sell for very little.

Our verdict IT DEPENDSIt depends on the piece: maker, date, model and condition make a real difference. Check before selling.

Live listings on eBay

A few current listings, United States. Asking prices, not sold prices.

What to look for

Tick what applies to yours:

Good to know

  • Magic: The Gathering was created by Richard Garfield and introduced by Wizards of the Coast in 1993.1,2,3
  • The first printing, Alpha, had about 2.6 million cards, with 1,100 copies of each rare card.2,4,5
  • The second printing, Beta, came out in October 1993, and Alpha cards have more rounded corners than Beta cards.2,6,7
  • Alpha and Beta cards have black borders, while Unlimited cards, also from 1993, have white borders.4,8
  • The earliest sets have no set symbol; from the Exodus set in 1998 the symbol's color shows the rarity: black for common, silver for uncommon, gold for rare and orange-red for mythic rare.9,10
  • Wizards of the Coast keeps a Reserved List of older cards it has promised never to reprint; no card from Mercadian Masques or a later set is on it.11,12
  • Foil cards were first added to a Magic set in 1999, with Urza's Legacy.13,14
  • Hasbro completed its purchase of Wizards of the Coast in September 1999.15,16

How we checked this page

Checked on October 16, 2026. We kept a fact only when two independent sources agree, and each one is numbered to its sources below. We never write a price: the listings come straight from eBay and show what sellers ask. This page was written with an AI assistant and checked against the sources below.

Sources

  1. Magic: The Gathering, The Strong National Museum of Play
  2. CGC Trading Cards goes back in time to the very beginning of Magic (2020), CGC
  3. Matchbox cars, coloring book, Magic make toy Hall of Fame (2019), Associated Press
  4. All about Alpha (Cassie LaBelle, 2012), Star City Games
  5. Magic: The Gathering enters Toy Hall of Fame (Paul Kennedy, 2019), Antique Trader
  6. This day in Magic history: Beta (Jacob Lackner, 2022), Card Kingdom
  7. Limited Edition Beta (2007), ICv2
  8. What are core sets? (Alex Katz, 2020), Card Kingdom
  9. Identifying Magic sets (2023), Star City Games
  10. A comprehensive guide to MTG card rarity (Parker Johnson), Beckett
  11. Official reprint policy, Wizards of the Coast
  12. The MTG Reserved List: what is it? (2022), Star City Games
  13. So shiny: a little history of foiled Magic cards (Christian Tobehn, 2022), Cardmarket Insight
  14. Fifteen fun facts about foils (Ben Bleiweiss, 2009), Star City Games
  15. Hasbro Form 10-Q, period ended September 26, 1999, U.S. SEC (EDGAR)
  16. Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast (2001), ICv2

Before you sell

  • Compare with items that actually sold, not only with asking prices.
  • Take clear photos in daylight: front, back, marks and any damage.
  • Do not clean coins, and do not repaint or polish old items: it often lowers the value.
  • For anything that might be valuable, get an opinion from a certified appraiser or a specialist dealer.
How we decide

The verdict is our own, written from public sources (coin specifications, maker histories, collector guides). It is not computed from eBay listings. OLD: a typical one found at home is worth little; rare dates, errors or editions are the exception. IT DEPENDS: maker, date, model and condition make a real difference. GOLD: even ordinary ones are worth real money, usually for their precious metal. The eBay listings we show are a few current asking prices, not sold prices and not an appraisal. For anything valuable, ask a certified appraiser.