A card from one of the hobby’s favorite finds of all-time is coming to auction later this fall.
Heritage Auctions says it will offer a high-grade 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle from the 1986 discovery of hundreds of uncirculated 1952 Topps high numbers in its next Trading Card Catalog Auction. Remarkably, the card remained ungraded for 30 years.
Now in a PSA 8.5 (NM/MT+) holder, it’s expected to bring at least $800,000 when bidding ends during the first week of December.
The card was graded only three years ago, having been consigned at the Heritage booth at the 2016 National Sports Collectors Convention and graded by PSA on-site. Prior to that time, it had been held in a private collection, appearing just as it did when the original owner phoned Alan “Mr. Mint” Rosen who scooped up a huge leftover stack of hundreds of virtually untouched 1952 Topps from a seller in Quincy, MA who had inherited them. The original 1952 Topps shipping case they came in was part of the deal. That find is believed to have produced most of the hobby’s highest graded examples of the iconic Mantle card. The 8.5 is one of the 14 best on PSA’s Population Report and one of only 49 that have reached 8 or better.
In April of 2018, Heritage sold one of the 9s for a record $2.88 million. They also sold the last 8.5, which went for $810,000 in August of 2018. Another sold for over $1.3 million in 2016.
“Beyond the stunning lack of wear, the card boasts the boldest hues we’ve encountered from the entirety of the 1952 Topps breed, an attribute that must be seen in person to be truly appreciated,” Heritage says of the card that will open for bidding next month. “Centering is well within desirable parameters, and surfaces are as clean as an operating table. The margin of difference between this example and the multi-million dollar trio at the top of the population pyramid is nearly too small to perceive.”
Several other, lower grade 1952 Topps Mantle cards will be in the same auction, which will include hundreds of rare and high-grade vintage and modern cards.
Bidding is set to open November 13.
Heritage also announced this week that the second half of its Fall Sports Memorabilia Catalog Auction that was interrupted by a malware attack last Friday had resumed and would finish this Friday, the 25th, a week after the original closing date.
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