Of all the significant sports moments of the 21st century — Tom Brady replacing an injured Drew Bledsoe, LeBron James' NBA debut or Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game — none of them represented the most graded ticket from 2000-2009 by PSA in 2024.
Instead, it wasn’t a sports moment at all. And it was the polar opposite of the celebratory nature usually associated with ticket collecting.
Beating every ticket mentioned above, as well as every other from the first decade of the 21st century, was the 2001 World Trade Center ticket from Aug. 23, less than three weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.
The population of tickets to the Top of the World Trade Center Observatories on Aug. 23, 2001, rose from just six graded by PSA at the start of 2024, all the way up to 101 by the end of the year, according to data from GemRate.
That’s an increase of 1,583.33%.
Additionally, the population of PSA 10s jumped from just one on Sept. 4, 2024, to 16.
According to Hall of Stubs, a social-media account dedicated to covering collectible tickets and their rarity, PSA's second-most graded ticket of the 2000s last year was Tiger Woods’ third Masters, which rose from 46 to 82, an increase of 78.3%.
Even the game in which Cal Ripken Jr. recorded his 3000th hit, which, as a milestone moment, is far more likely to have a high population due to collectors saving their stubs, rose only 36 in 2024, despite a total population of more than 900. At the start of the year, it had a population of 150-times that of the WTC ticket.
As cllct covered in July, when a WTC ticket from Sept. 10, dubbed the final one purchased prior to the attacks (dated less than 10 minutes before the deck closed for the night) hit the auction block, the ethical, moral and controversial nature of treating such an item as a collectible is obvious.
The auction, which ended at a record $11,400 in August, resulted in a quick profit for the consignor, who purchased it for $7,774 just six months prior. Considering the consignor was not the original owner, it’s easy to see why this left many uncomfortable.
However, the buyer of the ticket, Marc Mader, told cllct it will be in his collection for the rest of his life.
Mader has a personal tie to that tragic day.
“I was actually getting on a flight in Anaheim, (California), to Newark, (N.J.), when they yanked us off,” Mader recalled. “I wish I would know back then to keep my plane ticket.”
Having previously served in the Army, Mader also cited the lasting effects of the Sept. 11 tragedy and its influence on society, including the wars overseas and the cultural impact.
Mader, whose collection spans some of the most coveted cards, tickets and memorabilia in the hobby, explained why he was inclined to not only buy a ticket from the days prior to the attacks, but specifically the last one known to exist.
“I’ve always been drawn to the best of the best in any category,” Mader said.
As for the reason for the influx of WTC tickets, sources confirmed to cllct the vast majority came from one submitter. Though it seems surprising so many remain today (there are more from other days and months not included in this count), this can be chalked up to the extreme business of the sky deck as a tourist attraction, and, crucially, that tickets were frequently purchased for large groups, and in many cases, due to weather, went unused.
This helps explain why PSA has graded 199 full tickets from 2001 for the WTC (across multiple dates as late as Sept. 10), yet only 13 stubs — in sports, typically fulls are far rarer as most people go to the games.
The record sale for the Sept. 10 ticket is indicative of a rather morbid pricing matrix, which values tickets higher the closer they are to the day of the attacks. A Sept. 8 ticket sold for $1,500 in February and an Aug. 23 ticket, sold in March 2024 when the total population was still 16, fetched $313.
Whether pieces such as these are beyond the pale seems to rely on the context in which they are handled and the meaning the items hold for individual collectors.
For Mader, his personal ties and his views of its impact inform his own collecting rationale — as well as his decision to never sell the piece.
“Just so many things changed because of this event,” Mader said. “It just changed the way we live.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.