A decades-old Mickey Mantle baseball card could break a record at auction.
The 1952 collector’s item features one of baseball’s most celebrated and charismatic legends, and is widely regarded as one of the few in near-perfect condition.
It is estimated that the final cost of the card could exceed $10 million when the auction ends on August 27. The record is $6.6 million for one 1909 Honus Wagner card that sold at auction a year ago, months after another 70-year-old Mantle card fetched $5.2 million.
Interest was already strong on Monday when the auction took place debuted onlinewith offers up to at least $4.2 million.
Regardless of the final price of Mantle’s rare rookie card, it will be a big windfall for the current owner, a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur who bought it for $50,000 at a New York City show in 1991.
“Every time he stepped up to the plate, the crowd would go crazy, the roars would be there. And he would never let you down. … He had this aura,” Card owner Anthony Giordano said of Mantle, who passed his life his entire career with the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. “Whether you’re from the New York area or not, or a Yankees fan, it was always Mickey Mantle that stood out.”
The switch-hitting Mantle, “the Mick,” was a 1956 Triple Crown winner, three-time American League MVP and seven-time World Series champion. The Hall of Famer, who died in 1995, was considered a humble player on the field. When he hit a home run, he often walked through the bases with his head down.
“I thought the pitcher felt bad enough without me showing him rounding the bases,” Mantle once said.
As for the baseball card, its rarity is matched by its subject’s legendary reputation.
LM Otero / AP
“The quality of the card is the key,” said Derek Grady, executive vice president of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, which is running the bidding. “Four sharp corners, the shine and color jumps off the card.”
Grady said the collectibles market is having a renaissance, noting that cards that are “la creme de la creme, the best of the best, are still selling despite the economy right now” and that Mantle, “the king ” of the baseball cards, “he’s always done well.”
Giordano, 75, said it was time to give the Mantle card a new home.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “My boys and I have had the cards for over 30 years, and we’ve enjoyed it. We’ve enjoyed showing anyone close to me, friends and family, and I think it’s time for someone else.”
The card will be on display in Atlantic City Wednesday through Sunday at the National Sports Collectors Convention and at the New York Heritage Auctions office the following week.
