For nearly 20 years, this Holy Grail resided in a one-touch holder in a safety deposit box owned by our consignor. In November of 2004, he purchased the LeBron James 2003-04 Exquisite Collection Basketball Rookie Patch Autograph Parallel #08/23 on eBay for just under $3,000 and had the patience to keep it hidden until the product's 20th Anniversary. One June 4th, 2004, the most important basketball card product was released, Upper Deck Exquisite Collection, with the perfect rookie class to lead the charge. The trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony will go down as one of the strongest NBA rookie classes of all-time. LeBron was assigned numerous auto patches in the inaugural Exquisite year, but the most iconic is the #78 RPA. There are two versions, the /99 Level 1 and the super scarce parallel numbered to his jersey number. His number "23" meant there would only be 23 in existence; an extremely limited release that solidified it as one of the most important cards in the collecting world. So limited, that only one other has been graded by Beckett since July of 2020. This specific example has been graded and encapsulated by BGS NM+ 7.5 with an Auto grade of 10. Sub-grades are Centering 9.5; Edges 7.5; Corners 7; and Surface 7.5. The perfect, bold, auto was done in blue upon a white background beneath a two-color swatch. Not only is this one of the most important basketball cards ever made, it also has the highly-desired "hobby fresh" allure.