Mickey Mantle {photograph} used for 1952 Topps card sells for report $3 million

A uncommon 1951 Mickey Mantle picture that was used because the picture for his iconic 1952 Topps baseball card offered for a record-breaking $3 million in a personal sale brokered by Hunt Auctions, the public sale home introduced Monday. Sports memorabilia collector Ron Firman, a Rye, N.Y. native, bought the picture of the New York Yankees legend.

The report sale of this non-autographed Mantle PSA Type I authenticated picture greater than doubled the earlier report value for an autographed sports activities picture. A Shoeless Joe Jackson signed picture offered by Christie’s and Hunt Auctions in 2021 held the earlier report, promoting for $1.47 million.

A PSA Type I photo is outlined by the grading firm as “a first generation photograph, developed from the original negative, during the period (within approximately two years of when the picture was taken).”

According to Hunt Auctions, the picture was taken on March 5, 1951 in Phoenix. Then the picture was initially issued regionally by the International News Service to be used inside an area information launch fairly than a bigger nationwide distribution.

“The demand for high-end original Type I photographs from new collectors and investors coming into the space is at an all-time high,” mentioned PSA picture authenticator Henry Yee. “The supply however for this material is extremely scarce. When an item of this caliber is offered for sale, often it is sold privately and does not even make it to public auction — such as in this case.”

The report sale for an unsigned sports activities picture additionally got here from a Mantle picture — the one used for his 1951 Bowman rookie card — promoting for $843,750 at public sale in 2024.

“The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card remains to date one of the most recognizable American sports and popular culture items of the last 100 years,” Hunt Auctions president David Hunt mentioned in an announcement. “The record setting price achieved for the related photograph is one of scant few PSA/DNA Type I examples known to exist and is among the most coveted original sports images of any type.

“This astounding record setting image further memorializes the elite status of the Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card within the history of American popular culture. We are honored to have facilitated this historic sale which undoubtedly has achieved a pricing standard of great significance.”

The publicly identified report sale for a ‘52 Topps Mantle card presently stands at $12.6 million paid for a SGC 9.5 graded instance in 2022, nonetheless a top-graded copy of the cardboard might promote for $25 million or extra at the moment given additional progress of the cardboard market and rising demand for iconic playing cards prefer it.

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