The die most often cited in answer to this question is not a documented Dungeons & Dragons collectible. It is an ancient Roman glass gaming die, catalogued by Christie’s as dating to around the 2nd century A.D. A 2023 Dice Dragons article reports that it sold at auction in December 2003 for $17,925. The sale price and the claim that it is the world’s most expensive die are not confirmed by the accessible Christie’s lot record, so the superlative should be treated as reported, not established.
What is the expensive die?
Christie’s catalogues the object as “A ROMAN GLASS GAMING DIE,” dating it to circa the 2nd century A.D. It is a deep blue-green, twenty-sided polyhedron, with a distinct incised symbol on each face. The catalog lists its width as 2 1/16 inches (5.2 cm). Its provenance states that the current owner’s father acquired it in Egypt in the 1920s.
Its twenty-sided shape makes it easy to compare with a modern D&D d20, but that resemblance does not make it a D&D die. The Christie’s catalog says that similar Roman polyhedra are known, while modern scholarship has not established which game they were used for. The object’s exact purpose remains unknown.
What did it sell for, and is it a world record?
Dice Dragons reported in 2023 that the die sold for $17,925 at auction in December 2003. An AnandTech forum post from 2008 also repeats that amount. The accessible Christie’s lot record describes the artifact but does not display a realized sale price, so $17,925 should be attributed to secondary reporting rather than presented as a price shown in Christie’s catalog.
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Dice Dragons also describes it as the most expensive die ever sold. The available sources do not establish a comprehensive auction ranking, however. A careful answer is that it is a die reported as the most expensive ever sold—not a verified world-record holder. Rankings also depend on what counts: an auction result for one ancient artifact is not directly comparable with a modern set’s retail price or a bespoke die’s asking price.
How it compares with a modern D&D collectible
A retailer’s 2023 guide provides a useful contrast: an official Dungeons & Dragons 45th-anniversary sapphire dice set. According to that guide, it was released in November 2019, limited to 1,974 numbered sets, and retailed for $300. The set was described as anodized aluminum, with two d20s and other polyhedral dice; one d20 used a lab-grown sapphire in place of the 20. These are retailer-reported historical details, not a current price or independently verified official product listing.
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| Object | Category | Reported figure | What the figure represents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman glass gaming die | Ancient artifact; not established as a D&D collectible | $17,925 | Price Dice Dragons reported for a December 2003 auction in its 2023 article; not displayed on the accessible Christie’s record |
| D&D 45th-anniversary sapphire dice set | Modern limited-edition set | $300 | Original retail price reported by Dice Dragons in 2023, not an auction result or current asking price |
The figures describe different kinds of transactions and different objects: a reported auction price for a single ancient die versus a reported original retail price for a modern set. The set is a comparison point, not evidence about the Roman die’s game or history.
Quick Recap
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What to take away
- The widely cited high-value object is a Roman glass 20-sider from around the 2nd century A.D., not a proven D&D die.
- The $17,925 sale price comes from secondary reporting about a December 2003 auction; Christie’s accessible catalog record does not show the realized price.
- The “most expensive ever” label is not confirmed by a comprehensive auction-record source.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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