One of the best known copies of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card sold for over $1.1 million early Friday. The PSA 8.5 rated example was one of the featured attractions in Heritage Auctions’ Fall catalog. It’s the first baseball card other than the T206 Honus Wagner to sell at public auction for over $1 million.
Bidding for the Mantle card stopped at $950,000 but the buyer’s premium pushed the card’s realized price over the million dollar mark. The card is one of a dozen cards rated 8.5, 9 or 10 by PSA. None of the three cards graded 10 has come to auction and a 9 hasn’t sold publicly in nearly ten years.
A T206 Wagner card rated 2 by PSA was also in the auction. It sold for a record-setting price of $776,750. The same card had brought $675,000 via a Lelands auction in 2014.
One of 12 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams rookie cards smashed a three-year-old record by selling for more than four times the previous mark when it realized $239,000 .
In all, 13 cards sold for $100,000 or more on the first day of a three-part sale by the Dallas-based company with the auction totaling over $10 million.
A 1916 M101-4 Babe Ruth rookie card graded PSA 4 sold for $215,100 while a pair of 1933 Goudey Ruths brought major attention as well. The #53 Ruth sold for $203,150 while the #149 garnered $143,400.
Not every card hit a high water mark, however. A 1952 Topps Willie Mays graded PSA 9 sold for $310,700 in Thursday night’s sale. Two others sold by Heritage earlier this year had reached $478,00 and $382,400, respectively.
The auction wasn’t just baseball, however and record prices permeated other markets, too. One of five 1958 Topps Jim Brown graded PSA 9 sold for a whopping $358,500—more than $319,000 higher than the last sale of a 9 just six years ago.
A PSA 9 1957 Topps Johnny Unitas rookie card soared to $167,300 while a BGS 9 copy of the hard-charging 1984-85 Star Company Michael Jordan rookie card was hammered down at $47,800.
Other sales included:
- 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente PSA 8.5 $167,300
- 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 7 $155,350
- 1916 Famous and Barr Babe Ruth rookie PSA 3 $119,500
- 1948-49 Leaf Jackie Robinson rookie PSA 8 $101,575
- 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 6 $89,625
- 1986-87 Fleer basketball wax box $50,190
- 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan PSA 9 $38,240
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