They call the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card the “Mona Lisa” of the hobby.
Usually that is meant as a testament to the card’s aesthetics.
But the winning bidder of a Mantle tonight at Goldin (final price: $14,640) may see it differently: Much like Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the beauty is in the flaws. And there are many. Not to mention, much like the Mona Lisa, this Mantle card has seen its fair share of restoration. As indicated by the BVG label, its front and back were glued together.
Yet the sale isn’t truly a surprise. Rather, it’s further evidence of what we all already know. The ’52 Mantle is a grail in any grade.
2,825 copies of the card have been authenticated by the four major grading services according to GemRate. Of those, there are copies in such miraculous condition they sell for millions and capture the attention of the world with record-breaking headlines.
Others are less miraculous. Truthfully, they look as a 72-year-old piece of cardboard should: Terrible. From kids sticking them in the spokes of their bikes to playing flip games, wear and tear is a given.
But in a world where condition is everything, these black sheep are worth more than 99.9 percent of all other cards ever produced in the history of the printing press.
And the seller of this particular card, assuming no private transactions took place between the last listed public sale of $5,995.00 in 2019, nearly tripled their money.
One obvious reason is scarcity. With less than 3,000 copies in any grade and a few dozen opportunities each year to snag one — including high-grade copies capable of setting one back their life savings plus interest — collectors with their sights set on owning a “grail” of the hobby will pay up for any slab that allows them to join the club.
Prices for Mantle cards have risen drastically in the past decade, even at the low-end. A collector would be able to find a PSA 1 Mantle for around $3,000 in 2014. Now? $20,000 is the lowest sale of the year in that grade. Back in 1990, a Mint condition Mantle could be had for around $12,000.
For Authentic / Altered cards, the drop-off is not as drastic as one might think. Last month, a PSA Authentic / Altered Mantle fetched $30,000 at Heritage. That may seem shocking — isn’t that a “lower” grade than a PSA 1? A look at the slab tells you everything you need to know. Whatever alterations were made, morals aside, left the card looking pretty good — eye appeal worthy of a premium.
But it’s the real gnarly ones that make for some fun.
I’m talking cards with lives lived and stories to tell.
In other words, they’ve seem some shit. We’ve seen them come out of a binder with punch holes the size of grapes — like this copy which sold for $11,877.77 in 2022 — or another which clearly lost a battle with a pair of scissors yet still managed to sell for $7,201 earlier this year.
And it’s not limited to the Mantles of the world. Who could forget the Half Honus? Back in 2022, one collector paid over $475,000 for a T206 Wagner card. Well, to be more accurate, they paid over $475,000 for the left side of a T206 Wagner.
Cards like the Mantle sold tonight at Goldin — the worst-of-the-worst, in terms of condition — are just as strong of an indicator of the market for the card as the record-setting high-grade copies. If a card with a face only a mother (read: collector) could love is going for over $14,000, nothing could say more about the desirability of the 1952 Topps Mantle.