A Mickey Mantle Topps baseball card from 1952, when he was still a rookie, sold for $2.88 million Thursday night, Sports Illustrated reported.
The card was sold by former NFL offensive lineman Evan Mathis, who said he was hoping to free up funds to buy a new house.
“Just that image of the young Mickey Mantle, over the years it’s been a centerpiece of the hobby,” Mathis said, per sports Illustrated. “I guess it’s kind of like the Mona Lisa of the sports card world.”
There is only one baseball card more expensive: a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner card, which sold for $3.12 million in 2016.
For the Mantle rookie card, there has been an astounding rise in worth over the years.
There are 1,500 copies of the card graded by the Professional Sports Authenticator, but of those only six achieved a Mint 9 status on a scale of 10, The Denver Post noted.
So, the 1952 Mantle card is not necessarily all that rare, but finding one in perfect condition is.
According to ESPN, one of those was worth little more than $3,300 in 1988, but 10 years later it jumped to $121,000.
The top price for the card was $240,000 by 2007 and the card’s previous record was set in 2016, when it sold for $1.13 million.
Marshall Fogel, a memorabilia collector in Colorado, believes the card auctioned Thursday is worth more than it sold for.
“Over $5 million. Easy,” Fogel told the Post.
“A ’52 Mantle card by Topps baseball company is a second-year card of Mickey Mantle. The first-year card is not as beautiful, nor is it as desirable, though it is important. It’s made by a different company and it more looks like a painting than a photograph. The ’52 Mantle is the King of King cards. If it’s a 9 or a 10 (grade), you’ve got something that is investment quality and it’s very desirable.”
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.