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1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Rookie SGC 9 on Display at The National

See the Rare Card Valued at 6 Million Dollars In-Person

July 12, 2023

Mickey Mantle Rookie Card

Your chance to see a baseball card worth SIX MILLION DOLLARS in-person is happening at the 2023 National this month. One of the highest-graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie cards is coming to the World Series of baseball cards.

In 1986, Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen discovered possibly the greatest find in the hobby. Taking a call from a man in Quincy, Massachusetts had Mr. Mint, one of the biggest purchasers of baseball cards in the Country at the time, in disbelief. On the other end of the phone was a gentleman stating he had well-conditioned 1952 Topps baseball cards from the high-number series. In that set is the iconic Mickey Mantle rookie card. When Topps released the 1952 set, they did so in different series during the baseball season. For example, cards numbered 1-80 were released in "series 1" instead of all 407 cards being released simultaneously. A fine in idea in theory, but when the higher-numbered cards were released in series 6 during the Fall, kids were focused on buying football cards. Many of the high-numbered cards were DUMPED IN THE OCEAN! When Mr. Mint asked "how many Mantles", the response was 30. Wait - THIRTY Micke Mantle rookie cards? When the two sat down in Quincy, Massachusetts, out came a silver tray of pristine high-numbered 1952 Topps cards, and when Mr. Mint reached his hand into the pile, out came over 30 Mantle rookies.

From the Rosen find came most of the highest-graded and top condition Mickey Mantle cards in the hobby. If you're not familiar with grading, a professional grading company will examine grade the card on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being Gem Mint - a flawless card. Cards over 70 years old are rarely in good condition, having been played with, placed in bike spokes, or used for a game of flip. One of these 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie cards from the Rosen find was graded by SGC and received a grade of 9! How rare is a grade of 9 for this card? Only TWO SGC 9 cards exist. There is one card that has ever been graded higher by SGC, and that card received a 9.5.

The estimated value of this 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle SGC 9 is SIX MILLION DOLLARS!

You can see this card in-person!

The consignments director at Heritage Auctions posted on Instagram that this card will be on display at The National! You can see the SGC 9 Mickey Mantle rookie card HERE.

If you are attending the 2023 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago (Rosemont) later this month to see the Mickey Mantle card, come stop by the Just Collect booth! We will be BUYING collections at the National. We have purchased many 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie cards including one in the Tampa Collection recently. One of our favorite Mickey Mantle rookie card purchases has been dubbed the "Pickles Mantle" as the card was found in a shoebox stored underneath jars of pickles! If you have a Mickey Mantle rookie card or other vintage cards you're interested in selling while at The National, we'd love to see you stop by the Just Collect booth #2102 where we are buying collections.

Here is our owner, Leighton Sheldon, with the SGC 9.5 Mickey Mantle card:

WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.

We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:

We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.

Travel to Us

If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.

Come to convention

We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

Meet in-person

If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

Meet in New York City

We have another location in New York you can meet us at; read all the information here.

SHIP your collection

If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us! We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!

Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.