A nearly complete autographed set of 1952 Topps cards including one of the best known Mickey Mantle examples is being broken up and sold as part of Love of the Game’s Spring Premier Auction.
The Mantle card has been graded PSA 3 (VG) with a Gem Mint 10 autograph grade.
“It’s one of only two examples we’ve found with a ballpoint signature that’s earned a grade of PSA 10,” stated Auction Director Al Crisafulli. “Its original owner pulled it from a pack in 1952, and had Mickey Mantle sign it for him in the 1970s. From there, it was sold at auction for the then-astonishing price of $22,000.
Bidding had topped $200,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
“We believe it is the finest-known example of a signed ’52 Mantle, and the auction that sold it years ago felt the same way,” continued Crisafulli. “Given the rarity and beauty of the card, we think it has the potential to be a million-dollar card someday.”
The auction also features a complement to the Mantle in a signed 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson. Even more rare than the Mantle, the PSA population report registers just six signed examples.
Bidding for the Robinson had also crossed the $100,000 mark with 11 days left in the auction.
The remaining signed 1952 Topps – more than 340 in total – are presented individually, card by card, and include many Hall of Famers and rarities.
Other autograph highlights include a nearly-complete, signed 1958 Topps set presented in multiple lots, a signed 1953 Topps Satchel Paige, a nearly-complete signed set of 1978 Grand Slam cards, and a large collection of other signed cards from the 1953 Topps set.
Among the other auction highlights is a 1917 Shoeless Joe Jackson original Type 1 photo. Likely taken just a week before the 1917 World Series, the photo has been tucked away in a private collection for years, recently authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA. It’s one of a host of important vintage photos included in the auction.
Other subjects include Babe Ruth (including a collection of rookie-era photos taken around a Boston Red Sox tour of the Draper & Maynard factory), Christy Mathewson, Jim Thorpe, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and more.
19TH Century Cards
LOTG has long specialized in early baseball cards and memorabilia and the current auction has a healthy selection, highlighted by a beautiful 1896 Betz Studios cabinet of the 1896 Baltimore Orioles – one of the game’s great teams – featuring six Hall of Famers.
The auction includes numerous rare cards and card types, including Chickering cabinets, Yum Yum Tobacco, Conly cabinets, Cameo Pepsin pins, and Old Judge cabinets.
The N172 Old Judge issue is well-represented as well, highlighted by an high-grade card of Hall of Famer Hoss Radbourn. Other Hall of Famers represented include Cap Anson, John Clarkson, Roger Connor, Hugh Duffy, Buck Ewing, Pud Galvin, Ned Hanlon, King Kelly, Connie Mack, Tommy McCarthy, John Ward, and the toughest of all Old Judge Hall of Famers, Bid McPhee.
Vintage Card Sets
The auction includes an assortment of complete and near-complete sets, including a complete 1953 Topps set. One of the most beautiful of all Topps’ vintage issues, the 1953 Topps set includes a variety of Hall of Famers and tough single prints that make completion a challenge.
Other complete or near-complete sets include 1913 T200 Fatima Cigarettes, 1939 Play Ball, 1941 Play Ball, 1953 Johnston Cookies, and Topps complete or near sets from 1955, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1970 Super, 1972, 1973 and 1974. Non-baseball sets include 1909 E76 American Caramel boxing, T218 Champions, and 1966 Topps Hockey.
The auction is underway through Saturday, April 29 on the LOTG website. The company’s next major auction is slated for this summer.
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