An autographed Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card sold for a record $793,006 at Goldin Auctions on Tuesday, becoming the most expensive signed vintage card to ever sell publicly.
The sale represents the single most expensive vintage card sale of 2024 at Goldin and the third-most expensive Mantle sale of the year at any auction house.
It also marks a handsome return from just last year, when the same exact card sold for $422,400 at Love of the Game Auctions. Previously, the same card, in an old PSA/DNA slab, fetched $22,325 in 2011.
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Given a PSA 3 condition grade with a perfect 10 autograph grade signed in ballpoint pen — considered more desirable than marker — the card has been called one of, if not the, finest signed 1952 Topps Mantles in the world. Additionally, the card was assessed to be within the top 15% in eye appeal.
"The 1952 Mantle has remained an iconic card and the finest signed example of this card took its rightful place among the most valuable signed vintage cards ever sold," Goldin founder Ken Goldin told cllct. "I thought it was special enough to give it its own auction, and it's certainly proved to be the right choice."
The record for a signed vintage card was previously held by a Babe Ruth 1933 Goudey, which nabbed $761,100 in 2021 at Wheatland Auctions.
"This sale is another reminder that high-end buyers are looking for iconic cards that cannot be recreated in their current state," said Eric Naierman, who acquired the Ruth card along with a group of collectors. "And what better state to have an iconic card, than in relatively good condition and signed in clear ballpoint pen by the legend himself?"
A signed Jackie Robinson 1948 Leaf rookie card sold for $588,000 in 2023 in a PSA Authentic/Auto 8 grade. Just four signed examples of the Robinson rookie have been graded by PSA.
Only 20 signed Mantle cards from the iconic issue appear in PSA’s database.
This rarity is underscored when compared to the total number of PSA-graded examples of the unsigned card in the census (2,019). Even more surprising is the fact there are actually fewer signed Mantles graded by PSA from the set than have been graded PSA 8 (35). The last sale of a PSA 8 came in August for $1.38 million. The record sale for a PSA 8 is $2.11 million.
It has been four years since a PSA 8 sold for less than the price paid Tuesday night at Goldin for the signed example.
A PSA 1/Auto 8 copy of a signed Mantle sold for $264,000 in August.
The sale also provides insight into the premium paid for an autograph on a vintage card, as a PSA 3 copy, without a signature, sold earlier this month for $52,800, meaning the autograph provided a premium of more than $740,000.
Signed vintage cards, once deemed a scourge on the hobby as many saw the application of ink to a valuable card to be akin to collectible graffiti, have taken off in recent years. In 2017, when just 11 signed Mantles had been assessed by PSA, a PSA Authentic/Auto 9 example fetched less than $100,000. That same year, a PSA 7 unsigned example sold for as much as $168,000.
Will this watershed sale pave the way for the continued rise of signed vintage? It certainly marks an inflection point and provides proof of collectors’ recognition of the rarity of the cards.
The next copy of the 20 signed examples to hit the auction block will be a key data point for the market moving forward.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.