Both football card collectors and baseball card collectors have the choice between 3 Deion Sanders rookie cards, all released in 1989, giving him a total of 6 base rookie cards from his two sports.
Sanders’ most valuable rookie card is his 1989 Score football card, but he has more valuable cards from later in his career, like his popular 1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems card, which is his most expensive to buy.
The timing of his rookie cards is unfortunate, as they came during the Junk Wax Era of sports cards, where massive overproduction tanked card values, which allows collectors to pick up his rookie cards very cheaply, even now.
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Quick Summary - Top Picks
Deion Sanders Football Rookie Cards
1989 Topps Traded Deion Sanders Rookie Card #30T
The 1989 Topps Traded Deion Sanders rookie card is one of his most popular options amongst collectors.
It’s a standout card, with a design that has an 80s feel about it, and a classic image of Sanders setting up for a return, in his first season for the Falcons.
It’s easy to get hold of, and not expensive to buy, so it’s a solid option for collectors who want to add a classic-looking Sanders rookie card to their collection.
He also has a Topps Traded baseball rookie card from the same year, which I’ll cover later in the list.
PSA 10 average price: $100-$150
1989 Pro Set Deion Sanders Rookie Card #486
1989 Pro Set’s rookie card for Deion Sanders is a good option for collectors who desire higher quality card stock.
This card is perhaps a bit confusing – It says No. 1 pick in the bottom corner, but Deion Sanders was the 5th overall pick in the first round of the 1989 NFL Draft; I don’t think it’s necessarily a mistake, but it can be misinterpreted.
For the design, we see a typical Pro Set card, with the red and white striped border, and NFL markings. The image of Sanders shows him in-action for Florida State, during his college football days.
It has a very high print-run, same as his other rookies, because of the era it was released, so there’s no trouble getting hold of it now, and you won’t have to pay much.
PSA 10 average price: $50-$100
1989 Score Deion Sanders Rookie Card #246
The 1989 Score Deion Sanders card is by far the most valuable of his football rookies, and one of the best Sanders cards of all time.
It features a portrait image of Sanders wearing a baseball cap, which seems quite fitting, with the inclusion of the football helmet image, which adds to the appeal.
The design itself is another which fits its era, with the green border that can be quite prone to wear and tear.
Again, because of the overproduction of cards during the Junk Wax Era, it’s readily available today, however it’s not so easy to find in top condition and grades, for example PSA 10, so the price does jump quite significantly on those compared to lower grades.
PSA 10 average price: $800-$850
Deion Sanders Baseball Rookie Cards
1989 Topps Traded Deion Sanders Rookie Card #110T
I mentioned earlier that Sanders also had a baseball rookie card from 1989 Topps Traded, to go with his football one – It uses the same design as the regular season release, and makes for a nice classic looking card.
The regular version holds very little value, but more value can be found in the rarer Tiffany version, which features an appealing glossy finish.
The Tiffany parallel is largely the same as the base card, in terms of design and look, but the higher quality stock ages better than its base counterpart.
PSA 10 average price: $50-$100
1989 Fleer Update Deion Sanders RC #53
There’s not a lot going on with the design and imagery of the 1989 Fleer Update Deion Sanders rookie card – The expressionless look of Sanders goes with the gray and white striped design.
It’s a typical Fleer design, with the diagonal shape cutout – The card was part of a set that wasn’t hugely popular, but the Fleer Update Glossy version is slightly more desired; Both are low value and easy to get hold of.
PSA 10 average price: $30-$80
1989 Donruss The Rookies Deion Sanders RC #6
Donruss The Rookies is a brand that resonated well with collectors in the 1980s – The green and black border of this one makes it easily distinguishable from Sanders’ other baseball rookie cards.
It features a great image of Sanders in-action for the New York Yankees.
Again, the Junk Wax Era is in full effect here and mass-production keeps the value down, but the highest grade does hold solid value, relative to his rookie card prices.
PSA 10 average price: $100-$150
Valuable Deion Sanders Cards From Later Years
Some of the cards released later in Deion Sanders’ career are among his most expensive sports cards of all-time.
Here’s a pick of some of the most valuable Deion Sanders sports cards from after his baseball and football rookie year:
1993 Topps Finest Refractor Deion Sanders #141
This one is a visually appealing card, which is also rare. The 1993 Topps Finest Refractor is a gem, and one of Deion Sanders’ most valuable cards of all time.
The Topps Finest brand was considered a highly-premium product at the time, as they competed with the likes of Upper Deck and Donruss – It holds significance, and good value.
PSA 10 average price: $500-$550
1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Deion Sanders #135
The Precious Metal Gems parallels from the 1990s were some of the best, and most popular, sports cards of their era.
This 1997 PMG Deion Sanders card features a colored design that many collectors will associate with the basketball PMGs of the same year, but these football cards have the same vivid backgrounds.
This is the most valuable Deion Sanders card on the list.
The cards are numbered, with 135 Red copies (pictured above), and only 15 Green copies – Both are valuable, but the Green is worth a lot more.
A BGS 8.5 graded copy of the Red version sold for $8.1k, back in 2023.
PSA 10 average price (Green Version): N/A (no data)
1998 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Deion Sanders #99
Another entry from the popular Precious Metal Gems brand of the 90s, but this time a baseball card.
All base cards in the 1998 Metal Universe set came with a Precious Metal Gems insert version, limited to 50 copies, with Deion Sanders included.
Sanders’ 1998 PMG card is comfortably the most expensive baseball card of his on this list.
PSA 10 average price: N/A (no data – PSA 8 average price: $6,000)
2018 Panini National Treasures Signatures Deion Sanders #S-DS
An entry into one of the sports card hobby’s most premium brands, Sanders has this appealing Signatures card, limited to just 10 copies, in the 2018 Panini National Treasures Football set.
He has multiple different signature cards from the set, including the ‘Signatures Parallels’ cards.
PSA 10 average price: N/A (no data – PSA 9 average price: $250)
2021 Panini Absolute Kaboom! Deion Sanders #K40
Another popular insert in the hobby today, the 2021 Panini Absolute set included Deion Sanders in the Kaboom subset.
The bold comic-book style of the Kaboom insert cards resonate well with collectors, and they’re rare cards which aren’t easy to find, so this one holds decent value relative to other Sanders cards.
There are also a couple of rarer, and more valuable, parallel options.
PSA 10 average price: N/A (no data – PSA 9 average price: $450-$500)
2022 Topps Definitive Dual Autograph Bo Jackson/Deion Sanders #DACJSA
A premium card featuring two of the most famous multi-sports stars of all time, featuring their autographs, what’s not to love about the 2022 Topps Definitive Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders dual card?
An appealing and unique concept which is desirable to collectors, the card holds good value.
PSA 10 average price: $900-$950
When Was Deion Sanders’ Rookie Football Season?
Deion Sanders’ rookie football season was the 1989 NFL season, for the Atlanta Falcons.
When Was Deion Sanders’ Rookie Baseball Season?
Deion Sanders’ rookie baseball season was the 1989 MLB season, for the New York Yankees.
What's The Most Expensive Deion Sanders Rookie Card?
The most expensive Deion Sanders rookie card is the 1989 Score card, which is one of his football rookies.
The 1989 Topps Traded Tiffany card is his most expensive baseball rookie, but it’s worth a lot less than his Score football card.
What's The Rarest Deion Sanders Rookie Card?
The rarest Deion Sanders rookie card is the 1989 Topps Traded Tiffany baseball rookie card. Sanders’ rookie cards were released during the Junk Wax Era of sports cards, and most suffered from overproduction, but this Topps Traded Tiffany rookie card had a more limited print-run.
Deion Sanders: A Background
When it comes to the greatest two-sports professional athletes of all-time, Deion Sanders is without a doubt near the top of the list, with the likes of Bo Jackson.
Sanders became the first person ever to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series, which is testament to his incredible sporting career as both a pro football and pro baseball player.
The football Hall of Famer is a popular figure and a collectable name in the sports card hobby.
*Average prices are based on PSA’s previous public sales data.
