Top 20 most expensive CSGO skins in history

CSGO owns one of the most diverse virtual markets in the gaming world. From weapon skins, knives to characters, there are many options for you to show off in the server.

However, exchanging skins can get complicated when it comes to rarity, leading to their expensive value. In this article, we will look at the most expensive skins in gaming history.

What is the recipe for an expensive CSGO skin?

First, some typical skins in CSGO history have their own stories. Let’s take the AWP Covert Dragon Lore skin as an example.

One of the slickest and most sought-after skins in the game, Dragon Lore has a history of being linked to Lord William’s castle – appearing on the once-competitive map, Cobblestone.

dragon lore cobblestone - Emergenceingame — Painting of Dragon Lore placed on the castle wall in Cobblestone

Skin Rarity

Whether a skin is considered “collectible” or not, depends on its rarity. It is ranked by tier, 8 levels in total. The most popular skin level is “Consumer” and the rarest is “Contraband” – there is only one skin with this rating currently.

So why is Dragon Lore a Covert AWP skin and not a Contraband? In a nutshell, M4A4 was originally a Convert skin, but after some ‘rumours’ around the author of the texture on the skin, or more precisely, the work was stolen from someone else, Valve made accidentally created one of the rarest skins in CSGO history.

The original design (named Howling Dawn) was copied by a Steam member. After being discovered, Valve redesigned and increased the rarity of the skin by one level, so it was named Contraband.

But what makes this skin even rarer is Valve’s discontinuation of this skin. That means the number of this skin is limited on the market, making it even rarer. Sounds interesting doesn’t it?

M4A4 Howl truoc va sau - Emergenceingame — M4A4 Howl before (left) and back (right) with Contraband rarity and redesigned

Flat value of skins

One value to consider is weapon skin wear, as measured by ‘float value’ or wear. Imagine the rating scale is from 0.00X-1.00, with 0.00X being the lowest, the new gun is shipped, while 1.00 is the same gun but the skin has been completely worn out. This is how CSGO skins are rated ‘condition’.

To make it easier to understand, they are divided into 5 distinct levels, one representing a wear level. Here is the summary:

float value - Emergenceingame — Float value is easiest to understand through the image above, with Factory New often considered the most attractive

Note, not all skins have all foot values. Take AWP Asiimov as an example, it is only valid between 0.18 (Field-Tested) and 1.00 (Battle-Scarred).

Top 20 most expensive CSGO skins

Along with skin rarity and float value, there is another type of skin value. For example, the Doppler skin for knives has different textures to determine the value. Below are each phase (type) of a Doppler knife, with Phases 1-4 being the most common (Mythical).

The true Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald forms are considered “Legendary” and have 100% sapphire (turquoise), ruby (ruby) or emerald (emerald) motifs on the knife. Black Pearl is the only “Ancient” knife in CSGO and is considered the rarest knife texture in the game, with 100% pure black texture and a bit of purple and blue on the surface.

Cac phase cua dao CSGO - Emergenceingame — Mythical, Legendary and Ancient of Doppler Knives (Chroma and Gamma)

The last value that tends to increase in price is StatTrak™, available on gun/weapon skins. The StatTrak™ weapon or knife has a record of how many people its owner has killed. For example, the StatTrak™ version of the M4A4 Howl with Factory New (0.009136963) sells for $5,186.78 USD – well above the average price of the regular version for this gun skin.

Even so, that M4A4 Howl is still outside the top 20 most expensive skins of all time recorded from CS.MONEY. So what are the top 20? Let’s have a look together: