Heritage Auctions will offer a PSA 9 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle in its upcoming spring trading card sale.
It’s been a dozen years since a 9 has sold publicly, and prices for iconic vintage cards have soared since that $282,588 transaction of John Branca’s card was handled through Memory Lane. An 8.5 sold through Heritage for over $1.1 million in November of 2016 and the company is predicting that the 9 could set a new record price for any sports trading card.
Heritage has a pre-sale estimate of $3.5 million on the card, which is one of only six ever rated 9 by PSA (there are 3 10s). If it does reach that level, it would surpass the $3.12 million paid for the T206 “Jumbo” Wagner (PSA 5-miscut) sold by Goldin Auctions in 2016.
The most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold remains the $4.4 million paid in 2012 for an early Babe Ruth Yankees jersey.
It’s believed the owner of the mint Mantle is former NFL offensive lineman/collector/dealer Evan Mathis, who had the card on display next to his Broncos Super Bowl ring at the 2017 National in Chicago.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are being listed as acceptable methods of payment for the card.
The auction is set to open March 28 and close April 19-20.
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