1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle PSA NM 7 (OC)

Sold For:

$38,400

Year:

1952

Auction:

2019 Fall

Lot #:

1213

Category:

Postwar Baseball - 1950s Cards

Graded NM 7 (OC) by PSA. Extremely attractive high-grade example of Mickey Mantle's first Topps bubble-gum card. One of card collecting's great classics, Mantle's Topps rookie card is the key to the 1952 set, one of the most famous of all cards, and the single most popular and valuable postwar baseball card. This is a magnificent example with brilliant colors. The corners are strong and square, each with only a touch of wear visible upon close inspection. The deep blue background, which is so prone to wear, is exceptionally strong and virtually perfect. Centered toward the top right, with an ever-so-slight characteristic tilt to the image. The reverse is centered to the far left (when held horizontally as intended, a sliver of another card is showing). A tiny black mark on the back is mentioned for accuracy. The 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle has long been universally recognized as one of most iconic "blue chips" of all vintage baseball cards, and even just a glance at sales records clearly shows that over the years it has consistently risen in value in all grades. The market for 1952 Topps #311 Mantles in general appears be on an upward swing - especially for extremely high quality examples. Recently, ultra-high-grade examples have soared to new levels, with sales of $660,000 reported for a PSA NM-MT 8 in February 2017 and $132,000 for a PSA EX-MT 6 example in October 2018. This is a spectacularly bright and clean world-class example of Mickey Mantle's most celebrated card, in an extremely desirable ultra high-grade. Reserve $10,000. Estimate (open).