A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card led Heritage Auctions' July 30-31 sports memorabilia auction in Chicago.
The "8"-graded card achieved a final bid of $382,400, setting a new record for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle.
 Topps dumped most of the 1952 card series in the sea |
Topps printed its high-level cards for 1952 too late in the season and decided to cut its losses, allegedly by dumping the majority in the sea.
While Mickey Mantle's card is not the rarest in the series, it is the most popular and sells for phenomenal sums at auction even in its lowest grades.
Heritage comments: "Fortuitously spared from death by drowning, this stunning specimen is outshone by just eleven unqualified representations among the 1,083 examples validated by PSA at the time of this writing.
"Color and registration are perfect, corners are sharp, and not a hint of wax or gum staining is visible. It is, in short, one of the finest relics of the post-war era, a pass right to the front of the line of the hobby's leading bubble gum card enthusiasts."
Other lots included a New York Yankees jersey worn by Mantle in 1966 that sold for $322,650.
A Brooklyn Atlantics baseball card from 1860 sold for $179,500 in the first day of the sale.
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