AI Appraisal Estimate

This is a rectangular trading card featuring an artistic portrait of Charles 'Lucky' Luciano, the notorious Italian-American mobster. The card is printed on cardstock with a white outer border and a central image that appears to be a reproduction of an oil painting. The portrait depicts Luciano in a brown suit jacket, a white collared shirt, and a dark necktie. He is characterized by dark hair and a heavy-lidded gaze, rendered in a realistic, painterly style with visible brushwork and a muted color palette including shades of tan, white, and dark brown. At the bottom of the card, the name '"LUCKY" LUCIANO' is printed in a bold, black, sans-serif font. The card appears to be from a non-sports set, likely produced in the late 20th century (possibly 1990s) focused on organized crime history or mafia figures. The condition shows some slight softness to the bottom edges and minor surface wear, but the card remains largely intact without significant creasing or stains. It is shown housed within a protective plastic sleeve or page holder, which has preserved its color and prevent significant corner damage.

I have completed a visual inspection of this single trading card featuring Charles 'Lucky' Luciano. Based on the typography and the painterly aesthetic of the portrait, I have identified this as a card from the 1992 'World of Crime' set produced by Comic Images. The card exhibits slight corner softening and minor edge wear consistent with a 'Lightly Played' to 'Near Mint' grade, though the protective sleeve has successfully prevented major creasing or environmental staining. The market for non-sports 'true crime' cards from the early 1990s is relatively stable but high in supply; these cards were mass-produced during the trading card boom and are not considered rare. Current market comparables for individual base cards from this series typically sell in the single-digit to low double-digit range. The demand is primarily driven by niche collectors of 'Mob' memorabilia rather than high-end investors. Because I am examining this via a digital image, I cannot verify the specific cardstock weight, chemical composition of the inks, or the presence of microscopic halftone patterns required to confirm it is an original 1992 printing and not a modern digital reproduction. A full authentication would require a physical examination under 10x magnification to inspect the print matrix and a blacklight test to check for modern paper brighteners. Additionally, provenance detailing the acquisition of the original box or set would strengthen the certainty of its origin.