1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy Reverse Negative (#357): How to Tell and Dated Sales

Quick answer: Some early copies of Dale Murphy’s 1989 Upper Deck card (#357) were printed with the photo flipped left to right. The easy tell is the “Braves” lettering on his jersey, which reads backward on the error (Reverse Negative blog, 2015; Junk Wax Museum; both accessed 2026-10-07). The corrected card has the normal photo. In 2025–2026, raw error copies mostly sold for about $65–$230 and PSA 10s for $1,376–$1,750 (dated sales below).

How to tell the error from the corrected card

Check	Reverse negative (error, often listed as 357a or ERR)	Corrected (357b or COR)
Jersey lettering	“Braves” reads backward	Reads normally
Overall photo	Mirror image; his throwing arm appears on the wrong side	Normal
Card number	#357	#357

Sources: Reverse Negative blog, Junk Wax Museum, BaseballCardPedia (ERR/COR listing), accessed 2026-10-07.

Tips:

Read the jersey first. It’s the fastest check and works even in small listing photos.
Compare with a corrected copy if you’re unsure. Side by side, the flip is obvious.
Check the hologram on the back. 1989 Upper Deck cards carry an anti-counterfeiting hologram on the reverse (BaseballCardPedia). Missing or doubled holograms are a separate flaw that usually sells at a discount, not a premium.
Don’t mix it up with #672. That is the Braves team checklist, which has Murphy artwork, not a photo (BaseballCardPedia).

Why the error is scarcer

BaseballCardPedia reports that, according to Upper Deck, the Murphy reverse negative was corrected after only about 2% of the cards had been produced. That would make it the earliest-corrected of the set’s major variations: the Sheffield upside-down “SS” after 15%, Varsho, Gallego and Schroeder after 20%, and Holton, Manrique and Winningham after 30% (BaseballCardPedia, accessed 2026-10-07). Cardlines (Nov 23, 2022) gives the same 2% and 15% figures and says Upper Deck published them when the set came out. Neither source names the original Upper Deck document, so treat 2% as the company’s own figure, not an audited print count.

Even 2% of a huge print run is a lot of cards. BaseballCardPedia notes that dealers believed Upper Deck’s planned 1,000,000 cards per player may have been raised, perhaps doubled. Exact print numbers were never published. So the error is scarcer than the corrected card, but not rare in absolute terms. The 2015 blog post above described it as easy to find.

Dated sales by grade

Sold prices from SportsCardsPro, accessed 2026-10-07. Ranges cover individual sales in the window shown. Outliers and multi-card lots are excluded and noted.

Grade	Sold range	Window	Notes
Raw (ungraded)	$64 – $227.50	Sep 2025 – Aug 2026	Most sales $80–$160. Excludes a $20 sale (Apr 8, 2026) and a 2-card lot (Jul 20, 2026)
PSA 5	$99.99 – $118.75	Mar – Jul 2026	2 sales
PSA 6	$164 – $199.87	May – Sep 2026	5 sales
PSA 7	$100 – $289.99	Feb – Sep 2026
PSA 8	$164.26 – $243.54	Feb – Sep 2026	SGC 8: $159 – $171.21 (Jun – Aug 2026)
PSA 9	$279.05 – $475	Jan – Sep 2026	Most $290–$400
PSA 10	$1,376 – $1,750	Apr – May 2026	4 sales: $1,719 (Apr 3), $1,750 (Apr 5), $1,376 (May 5), $1,429 (May 27). Excludes a PSA 10 + PSA 9 lot (Jun 20)
SGC 10	$685.75	Jun 25, 2026	1 sale

What the table shows: in 2026, a PSA 10 sold for roughly 4–5× a PSA 9, and SGC 10 sold well below PSA 10. Grades 7 and 8 overlap heavily, so a 7 vs 8 result made little difference on these dates.

Earlier dated prices, for context

Date	Price	Source
2015	Raw copies “regularly” $20–$25 on eBay	Reverse Negative blog
Apr 21, 2016	$20 for both versions together, NrMt (auction lot)	Kevin Savage Cards
2021 – 2023	PSA 10 sales $380 – $799	SportsCardsPro

These are past prices, not a forecast.

Summary values are not sales. SportsCardsPro’s algorithmic “PSA 10” figure on 2026-10-07 was $1,080.26, below every 2026 PSA 10 sale above. Use dated sales instead. One other site quotes a raw range and a PSA 10 price without dates that don’t match these sales; we didn’t use it.

Is it worth grading?

Run the numbers with today’s fees. A raw copy sells for roughly $80–$160, and PSA 8 sold for about $165–$245 in 2026. With grading fees from $17 a card (CGC Bulk, 25-card minimum) to $50–$60 (SGC and PSA entry tiers) as of 2026-10-07, a likely 7 or 8 adds little after fees. The math only works well if the card has a real shot at a 9 or 10. See should I grade my card? for the full checklist and current fees.

FAQ

Which Dale Murphy 1989 Upper Deck is the error? The one where “Braves” on the jersey reads backward. Sellers list it as #357, #357a or “ERR.”

Is the corrected Murphy worth anything? Not verified. We didn’t pull dated sales for the corrected card. It is far more common than the error.

Are there other reverse negatives in 1989 Upper Deck? BaseballCardPedia lists Mike Gallego #583 with a reverse negative on the back, among other variations. See its 1989 Upper Deck page.

Was the error intentional? There is no evidence it was. Some collectors have speculated that reverse negatives were planted to boost sales (for example, a Radicards blog post), but that is opinion, not documented fact.

More from this era: 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie · 1990 Topps Frank Thomas No Name on Front · Junk wax era explained