ChristianPulisicRookieCards.com
The ultimate guide to collecting USMNT star Christian Pulisic rookie cards
2016-17 Panini Black Gold #5 Christian Pulisic
The 2016-17 European soccer season saw the first issuance of ultra -premium soccer products and the 2016-17 Panini Black Gold Soccer product, released on January 5, 2017, was one of this inaugural class of ultra-premium products; an ultra-premium-priced product that subsequently evolved into the Panini Obsidian brand after only a one-year run in soccer, which happened to be Christian Pulisic’s rookie year (though it had slightly longer multi-year runs in basketball and football). At an original suggested retail price of $399.99 for a box that provided only eight total cards per box ($50.00 for each of the eight cards in the box, but a bargain considering the cost of an unopened box is roughly double the original price as of January 2026 with few available), the 2016-17 Panini Black Gold Soccer product provides Christian Pulisic’s rarest pack-based base rookie card (which has five total parallels, including the base version), a Stars Medallions insert card (which has three total parallels, including the base) and an autographed card (which has four total parallels, including the base).
Base cards in the 2016-17 Panini Black Gold Soccer product were extremely limited (we calculate only 210 copies) but were not serially numbered. This product was issued in hobby boxes only, which included two base cards, two serial numbered base cards, two insert cards and two autographed cards in each box. Thus, we can sum all the serially numbered parallel cards and conclude there are 210 serially numbered parallels for each of the 162 base cards, which totals 34,020 total serially numbered parallels of the base cards. At the pull rate of two per box there were 17,010 boxes produced, or 2,126 cases.
With only two total base cards per box (or 16 per case) spread across a 162-card base set, that means there is only one 2016-17 Panini Black Gold #5 Christian Pulisic base card in every ten cases of this ultra-premium product. This is Christian Pulisic’s lowest print run pack-based base card by a wide margin. With only 17,010 boxes produced and only two base cards per box, there is a total universe of 34,020 base cards across the 162-card set. If we divide this number by the 162 cards in the set, we have an incredibly small print run of only 210 copies of the base card. Of course, since serially numbered base parallel cards and base cards each were distributed two per box, it also makes sense that the number of base cards also equals the total number of serially numbered base card parallels as well (again showing us in a second way that the base card print run is only 210 cards).
Aside from the base cards, all parallels are serially numbered and these consist of the Bronze /99, Uncommon /75, Rare /35 and Black Gold 1/1 parallels.
Here is a table summarizing all five versions of the 2016-17 Panini Black Gold #5 Christian Pulisic card and the full print runs of each, from least rare to most rare:
Version | Print Run | Print Run Basis | Boxes For One Pulisic | Cases for One Pulisic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Common (AKA Base) | 210 | Calculated | 81.00 | 10.13 |
Bronze | 99 | Serial Numbered | 171.82 | 21.48 |
Uncommon | 75 | Serial Numbered | 226.80 | 28.35 |
Rare | 35 | Serial Numbered | 486.00 | 60.75 |
Black Gold | 1 | Serial Numbered | 17,010.00 | 2,126.25 |
Any #5 | 420 | 40.50 | 5.06 |
The thickness of the Christian Pulisic Black Gold rookie cards and their dark borders make them the most difficult grade of any Pulisic rookie card, and of course the cards also are quite rare in any condition given their small print run so this also is reflected in the graded population reports. As of January 2026, PSA has graded only 18 copies of the base card (four of which graded PSA 9 and all others lower), six copies of the Bronze /99 (all of which graded PSA 8), seven copies of the Uncommon /75 (all of which graded PSA 8) and three copies of the Rare /35 (one PSA 9, one PSA 8, and one PSA 6). Grading at the other platforms is even smaller. BGS has graded five of the base card (with one graded 9.5, one 9, and all others lower), one copy of the Bronze /99 (graded a BGS 7.5) and one copy of the Uncommon /75 (graded a BGS 9). SGC has graded only one copy of the base card and one copy of the Uncommon /75, and two copies of the Bronze /99. Like at PSA, none of the cards graded at SGC have been graded as a gem mint as of January 2026. CGC, meanwhile, has not graded any unautographed copies of this card as of January 2026.