Mickey Mantle died in 1995, but he just set a new record.
A 1952 Mantle rookie card –in mint condition – sold at auction Sunday for $12.6 million.
Mantle, the Hall of Fame outfielder with the New York Yankees, died at age 63. He never made $12.6 million for his entire career, from 1951 to 1968.
The 1952 Mantle—made by Topps — is now the most money ever paid for a baseball card. But it is also the most ever paid for a sports card or any piece of sports memorabilia, according to Beckett, the source for card collectors.
Previously, a T206 card of Honus Wagner held the money record for $7.25 million, Beckett stated. The most money paid for sports memorabilia was $9.3 million for a jersey from soccer player Diego Maradona.
Anthony Giordano, a nationally-known card collector, bought the 1952 Mantle in 1991, for the then outrageous price of $50,000.
The 1952 Mantle remains the golden prize for card collectors.
“Because there are so few in existence, especially those with a high (Mint) grade,” Stu Sachs, of The Villages Sports Cards and Collectors Club told me in 2018 when a ’52 Mantle went for $2.88 million. “Grading is very important in pricing cards.
“It’s so rare to find a card from so long ago (70 years) in perfect condition and perfectly centered and colored. True card collectors go for the highest grade they can get.”
There’s another reason for the inflated value.
“It’s Mickey Mantle,” Sachs said.
But it’s not just Mickey Mantle when it comes to card collectors shelling out outrageous money for pieces of cardboard.
Consider these cards, which are in the top 10 in value according to actionnetwork.com:
LeBron James, 2003-04 Upper Deck Rookie Patch, autographed, $5.2million.
Luka Doncic, Logoman, autographed, $4.6 million.
Patrick Mahomes, 2017 Rookie, autographed, $4.3 million.
Mike Trout, 2009 Superfractor, autographed, $3.9 million.
Wayne Gretzky, 1979 O-Pee-Chee, $3.75 million.
Babe Ruth, 1916 Sporting News, $1.5 million.
Tony Violanti covers arts and music for Villages-News.com. He was inducted into the Buffalo NY Music Hall of Fame as a music journalist.