While Trey Lance was very much the second-string quarterback for the 49ers during his rookie season in the NFL, his rookie cards gained some attention in the football card hobby.
I would say that trey Lance’s best rookie card is his 2021 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph card, which is also his most expensive.
However, there are some other great options at lower price entry points; I’ve covered them all, below.
Table of Contents
Quick Summary - Top Picks
For Low Budget:
– 2021 Panini Prizm #333
For Mid Budget:
– 2021 Panini Absolute Kaboom #K42
For High Budget:
– 2021 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph #158
The Best Trey Lance Rookie Cards
2021 Panini Donruss Optic Trey Lance #203
The Rated Rookie line is an annual favorite of football card collectors, and it offers one of the best Trey Lance rookie card options.
This Optic version takes the regular Donruss Rated Rookie design, and adds the optichrome finish for a more premium touch.
The base version is readily available and cheap to buy, but the big selection of parallels add rarity, and value.
An ungraded copy of the Gold parallel (/10) has sold for as much as $7.5k in the past.
2021 Panini Prizm Trey Lance #333
The flagship Panini football card set, Panini Prizm 2021 includes a number of Trey Lance cards.
As expected, the standard Prizm rookie card is one of his most popular; It’s the ‘go to’ option for most collectors.
Like the Donruss Optic rookie, the chrome base version is mainstream and low-value; For me, it’s the best entry-level Trey Lance rookie.
Prizm is known for having a wide array of parallels, which are tougher to get hold of, and offer collectors a more valuable and harder chase.
The parallel options vary in scarcity, starting with unnumbered options, through to low-numbered premium options, which are among Lance’s most valuable rookie cards.
A PSA 9 graded copy of the Gold Prizm parallel version (/10) sold for $10.5k, back in 2023.
2021 Panini Mosaic Trey Lance #303
Another mainstream set which includes some top Trey Lance rookie card options is Panini Mosaic.
It’s very much a Prizm-esque release, with high-quality base cards at a low price entry point for a Lance rookie.
The high-value is also found in the array of parallel options for this one as well, with some of the rarer parallels going for more relatively big money.
2021 Panini Select Trey Lance #45 Concourse, #145 Premier, #245 Club, #345 Field
Combining bold designs with optichrome finishes, the Panini Select set offers more nice rookie card options for Trey Lance.
In keeping with tradition, the 2021 Panini Select set has multiple base cards.
The cards work on a tiered system, from the most common to the rarest. The Concourse card (#45) is the most common, and there’s also the Premier Level card (#145), the Club Level card (#245) and, the rarest, Field Level card (#345).
All 4 base cards have some differences in design and imagery, and all have their own set of parallels, which add rarity and value.
2021 Panini Absolute Kaboom! Trey Lance #K42
Panini Kaboom! inserts are always a popular release, with a shiny, bold and exciting looking card.
These cards are out-of-reach for many collectors because they’re rare, short print cards, and very valuable.
The comic book style design makes for a nice option, if you can get hold of the 2021 Panini Absolute Kaboom! Trey Lance rookie card.
It’s a high-end unsigned Lance rookie card, and in my opinion, one of Lance’s best football cards.
This one also has the more valuable Gold (/10) and Green (1-of-1) parallels; A copy of the Gold parallel sold for $26.5k in 2022, graded 10 by PSA.
2021 Panini Donruss Optic Downtown Trey Lance #DT-35
The Panini Downtown Trey Lance rookie has similarities to his Kaboom rookie; It’s also a short print insert, which are very sought-after and expensive to buy.
The 2021 Donruss Optic Downtown Trey Lance rookie features a San Francisco themed design; Downtown’s unique card designs have proven to be very popular among collectors.
Typically falling at a rate of one per case, it’s a limited card which is another premium, unsigned, Trey Lance rookie card.
This one also comes with a few low-numbered parallels; A copy of the Gold parallel (/10) sold for $16.8k, back in 2022, graded PSA 9.
2021 Panini Certified Trey Lance #103
The limited number of base 2021 Panini Certified Trey Lance rookie cards make it more appealing to football card collectors and investors.
The base card itself is limited to just 399 copies, and there’s also numerous more limited parallels, so the scarcity gives it some extra value compared to similar Lance rookie cards.
The base version isn’t expensive to buy, and I think it’s one of Trey Lance’s best lower-value regular base rookie cards, because of the serial-numbering.
2021 Panini Origins Trey Lance #104
For collectors who are looking for something unique in design for a Trey Lance rookie card, the 2021 Panini Origins rookie is a good option.
The artistic approach to the Origins cards generally resonates well, and this one is a nice looking Lance rookie.
The base card won’t cost collectors and investors a huge amount, but the parallels offer something more rare and a bit more valuable; There’s also an image variation version.
The Top Trey Lance Autographed Rookie Cards
2021 Panini Contenders Optic Autograph Trey Lance #103
The traditional rookie ticket card design has become very popular in the football card hobby, and they offer collectors some of the best rookie cards to collect.
This 2021 Panini Contenders autograph Trey Lance rookie card, from the Rookie Ticket subset, offers a premium option for collectors.
Although not necessarily cheap, the base version isn’t crazy expensive, which is a bonus considering it features an on-card signature; Collectors do have the option for some limited parallels, which add more scarcity and value.
The 1-of-1 Gold Vinyl Prizm parallel of this sold for $36k, back in 2022, which makes it one of Lance’s most expensive rookies.
There’s also a variation version of the card, with its own set of parallels, which features a different image of Lance; It can be identified by the ‘V’ on the back of the card, inside a football shape.
2021 Panini Flawless Rookie Patch Autograph Trey Lance #RPA-TRL
As one of the most premium football card products, Panini Flawless offers this high-end Trey Lance rookie in the 2021 release.
With a large relic patch and on-card signature, it has both big appeal and big value; The base card is limited to just 25 numbered copies, which is another factor to the card’s price.
If there’s no restriction on budget, this is definitely one of the best options for a Trey Lance rookie; In my opinion, it’s second only to his National Treasures RPA card.
There are also some parallel options, including the elusive and desirable 1-of-1 Platinum NFL Shield version, which sold for $132k, back in 2022, to make it easily the most expensive Trey Lance rookie card ever sold.
2021 Panini Black Rookie Patch Autograph Trey Lance #204
There are multiple sets which include a patch Trey Lance rookie card, with a sticker autograph, but this Panini Black card stands out, with its dark color scheme and silver signature ink, but, most notably, the larger patch swatch.
The downside is the sticker autograph, which would be more appealing had it been hard-signed, but it’s still a solid autograph relic Lance rookie.
It’s a fraction of the price of his most premium RPA options, like the NT and Flawless cards, so I’d say it offers a good alternative.
The base version is limited and numbered to just 99 copies, and there are some limited parallel versions.
2021 Panini Gold Standard Rookie Jersey Autograph Jumbo Trey Lance #204
A similar option to the Panini Black Trey Lance Rookie Patch Autograph card is this 2021 Panini Gold Standard card, which also features a jumbo relic patch and sticker autograph.
With multiple options, there’s no shortage of premium autographed Trey Lance rookies from the 2021 Gold Standard set, but this is the pick of them, for me.
The base version is a rare card, which is limited to just 75 copies, but it’s not hugely expensive.
It only has a few parallel options, with a couple being 1-of-1 cards, so the overall print run of this one is low.
2021 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph Trey Lance #158
This 2021 Panini National Treasures Rookie Patch Autograph card is Trey Lance’s best rookie card, in my, and many other collectors’, opinion.
It’s not only the pinnacle of his rookie cards, it’s also the most valuable and expensive option.
The base version is serial-numbered to 99 copies, with a high-quality finish, a large patch piece, on-card signature, and complete with some parallels, it’s a super high-end card that has everything.
A BGS 9.5 graded copy of the Purple parallel (/49) sold for $57.6k, back in 2022.
This one is for investors and collectors with a big budget – National treasures remains very much a go-to option for RPA cards in the collecting hobby.
When Was Trey Lance’s Rookie Season?
Trey Lance’s rookie season was the 2021 season – In the 2021 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected Lance as the 3rd overall pick.
What Is The Most Valuable Trey Lance Rookie Card?
The 2021 Panini National Treasures Trey Lance RPA rookie card (#158) is his most valuable rookie card.
Although there are other RPA Lance rookies out there, the National Treasures brand prestige gives this one the edge.
The on-card signature and jumbo patch swatch also have big appeal, plus the base version is numbered to just 99 copies; There are some rarer, and more valuable, parallels as well.
The base version is worth multiple-thousand dollars, and the parallels go into the multiple-ten thousand dollar range.
Trey Lance: A Background
After an impressive college football career with North Dakota State, Trey Lance came to the NFL with a lot of expectation and a high ceiling.
The 2 time FCS champion won the prestigious Jerry Rice and Walter Payton awards in 2019, after a remarkable season.
The Minnesota native quarterback was expected to be one of the top names in the 2021 NFL Draft, where he ended up being selected as the 3rd overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers, with Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson selected ahead of him.
