The 10th ranked 1952 Topps baseball card on the PSA Set Registry, sold in individual lots that totaled $382,741 in Mile High Card Company’s August auction.
The 1952 set was led, of course, by a PSA 7 Mickey Mantle that sold for $166,944. Other big-ticket cards in the auction included the #407 Eddie Mathews rookie card, also rated PSA 7, which hauled in $38,129, a #1 Andy Pafko PSA 7 netting $12,140 and the Jackie Robinson PSA 7 which closed at $9,833. MHCC also offered three other ’52 Mantle cards in this auction, with a PSA 6 EX/MT selling for $64,828, an SGC 70 EX+ 5.5 bringing $49,394 and a PSA 4 VG/EX that closed out at $25,194.
“While the totals on the 1952 Topps cards were impressive, they weren’t as surprising as many other items. We expected this to be a particularly strong event and our expectations were greatly exceeded,” said MHCC President and CEO Brian Drent.
One of those items was a Larry Bird rookie year complete uniform which sold for $60,125, almost triple the price it sold for at auction just two years ago. A Joe Montana San Francisco 49ers game worn jersey from early in the Hall of Famer quarterback’s career, rated MEARS A10, fetched $24,947, a 1969-70 Reggie Jackson Oakland A’s vest-style flannel jersey graded MEARS A 8.5 collected $14,242 while a 1959 Tony Kubek New York Yankees gamer sold for $6,991.
One item that crossed both sports and Americana was a Franklin D. Roosevelt Single-Signed 
OAL (Harridge) ball Inscribed to Clark Griffith and attributed to Opening Day 1937. Featured on the auction catalog cover, the ball reeled in $37,257. A Babe Ruth Single-Signed OAL (Harridge) Ball changed hands to the tune of $33,792 and a 1938 New York Yankees Team-Signed OAL (Harridge) Ball with 21 signatures including Gehrig and DiMaggio reached the sum of $5,960.
A 1952 Bowman #101 Mickey Mantle Autographed card rated PSA/DNA 9 sold for $7,786, a century-old Ty Cobb Type I Original Photo sold for $2,194 and a 1950s Ted Williams Type I photo collectors would recognize from his 1954, 55 and 56 Topps cards sold for $1,359.
Elite post-war rookie and star cards dominated the auction, however. Among the highlights were a 1954 Topps #128 Hank Aaron SGC 96 MINT 9 that tipped the scales at an uncanny $127,873, a 1948 Bowman #6 Yogi Berra PSA 8.5 NM/MT+ at $13,745, well more than double the previous record price, a 1951 Bowman #253 Mickey Mantle PSA 6 EX/MT sold for $20,015, a 1954 Topps #201 Al Kaline PSA 9 soared to $41,000, a 1955 Topps #164 Roberto Clemente rookie graded PSA 8 closed at $56,000, a 1959 Topps #514 Bob Gibson PSA 9 brought in $34,582, a 1968 Topps #177 Nolan Ryan PSA 9 realized $45,289 and a PSA 8 1965 Topps Joe Namath rookie card hit $37,869.
Other high-profile offerings include a 1909-11 T206 Piedmont 150 Walter Johnson Portrait PSA 8 NM/MT that brought in $46,033, double the previous record set last year, a 1933 Goudey #149 Babe Ruth PSA 9(OC) MINT that sold for $38,728 and a 1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson NM/MT+ 8.5 that broke the previous record with a sale of $10,150. A 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle PSA 8 netted $52,428.
Bidding for a 1986 Fleer basketball box authenticated by BBCE was intense before the winner hammered it down for a price of $60,694.
MHCC’s next auction will be in October. Consignments are being accepted at (303) 840-2784 and you can also contact them via their website.
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