The “finest example” of Mickey Mantle’s “rookie” baseball card breaks the record for most expensive sports card after bidding hit $7.62 million – and the auction has two weeks to go, with the price tag estimated at $10 million becomes!
- The 1952 Topps card was auctioned by Heritage Auctions on July 25
- Bidding for the 9.5 grade card has already reached $7.62 million with Buyer’s Premium
- With two weeks to go before the auction ends, the Mantle card is expected to fetch $10 million
- It had already broken the previous record of $7.25 million set just last week
The “finest known specimen” of Yankees legend Mickey Mantle’s first baseball card has already broken the record for most expensive sports card, and the auction isn’t even over yet.
Bids for the 1952 Class 9.5 Topps card have already reached $6.35 million – $7.62 million with Buyer’s Premium – and with two weeks to go before the auction, that number is expected to climb even higher.
The current total price already surpasses the previous record set when an SGC 2 rated T206 Honus Wagner sold for $7.25 million last week.
The 1952 Mickey Mantle card already broke the record for most expensive sports card
Mantle was a legend of the game, playing all 18 seasons of his career with the Yankees
An SGC Wagner also previously held the record, having sold for $6.6 million last year, while the highest-ever Mantle card from 1952 also went for $5.2 million in 2021.
Before Heritage Auctions began bidding on July 25, there was speculation that the Mantle card could fetch a whopping $10 million.
The Topps Mickey Mantle No. 1952’s 311 is one of the most iconic baseball cards of all time and is often referred to as the Slugger’s rookie card, although it actually isn’t, having been released a year after his debut for the New York Yankees.
This particular example was called “The Rosen Find” because it was found among 5,500 cards containing 75 1952 coats purchased by collector Alan Rosen in the 1980s.
In 1991, Rosen sold the card to Anthony Giordano for $50,000, briefly making it the most expensive card in the world. Now it will boast that title again when the tender closes on August 27th.
Collector Alan Rosen, who found the map in the 1980s, called it the “finest specimen”.
Rosen sold the Topps tickets to Anthony Giordano in 1991 for a then-record $50,000
According to Rosen, who was arguably the foremost expert on vintage sports cards in his lifetime, the one up for auction is the ‘best’ of the pack and was officially rated a flawless 9.5 by SGC this summer.
Mantle was a legend of the game, playing all 18 seasons of his career with the Yankees.
The Switch-hitting center fielder won seven World Series titles, was a three-time American League MVP, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974, the first year he was eligible.