As autographed vintage cards continue to soar — fresh off the record-breaking $793,000 sale of a signed Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card in December — a Mantle-signed 1951 Bowman rookie appears poised to test the upper limits of the growing category.
Goldin Auctions will auction one of the top signed copies of Mantle’s 1951 Bowman rookie card, graded PSA 4/Auto 10, with a starting bid of $100,000 ($122,000 with buyer’s premium). Much like its more famous older brother, the 1952 Topps card, the percentage of signed Mantle rookies out of all graded examples is miniscule.
PSA has graded 2,788 copies of the Bowman rookie card, but only 32 autographed examples. That means just 1.1% of all PSA-graded copies have Mantle's autograph.
Among the 32 in PSA’s database, only one autographed copy has been deemed superior in condition (there is a single PSA 5).
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The record for a signed Bowman rookie Mantle is $284,400, which, despite its lower grading assessment (PSA 2.5/Auto 8), earns added esteem due to its “period-signed” attribute. Sold by Heritage in February 2024, the auction house explained the autograph fits the early style Mantle used during his early playing career.
Additionally, the consignor’s father is said to have acquired autographs in-person at ballparks and kept them for decades until his family rediscovered them last year. It’s also signed in the more desirable ink pen, as opposed to the blue Sharpie seen in Goldin’s example, which is often indicative of a card signed during Mantle’s post-career days on the autograph circuit.
Despite the Sharpie signature, the card at Goldin ranks higher based on pure grading standards. No signed Mantle rookie featuring grades of equal standard in condition and autograph has sold since this same card changed hands in August 2021 for $216,000.
As far as rarity is concerned, the 32 signed Bowman rookies makes up barely 60% of the 53 examples graded PSA 8, which saw its last comparable sale notch $288,000 in December 2024.
As collectors continue to signal willingness to pay top dollar for signed vintage cards, whether due to its relative scarcity or simply preference, this sale of one the finest signed Mantle rookie cards will act as an important test to see whether the momentum of the $793,000 sale of the 1952 Topps card will carry over.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.