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A ticket stub from a Yankees game in 1951 was sold for a record price.  This particular ticket was to see the debut of future baseball legend, Mickey Mantle. Check out the stub which is now the most expensive baseball ticket ever!

Baseball fans that attended opening day for the Yankees on April 17th were gifted a treat that day by witnessing the debut of future baseball legend, Mickey Mantle. Three MVP awards, seven world championships and a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame were not even dreamt of when a 19-year-old Mantle stepped onto the field that day.  Very few people even kept their ticket stubs from the game that day.  However, those that did keep their stubs could cash in today!  A stub from that game just set a record for most expensive baseball ticket.

TICKET STUB FROM MICKEY MANTLE'S DEBUT

If you were a baseball fan back then, only set you back a big $3.00 to sit in a lower box seat for a Yankees-Red Sox game on opening day. Little did you know that Mickey Mantle would be making his debut that day, setting out on a path to Cooperstown. Mantle collected his first big league hit that day as well as his first RBI in the 6th inning off Bill Wight.

Few people had the foresight to put that ticket stub from the Yankees 5-0 win over their Rivals that day in their pockets for safe keeping - why would they?  Not only did nobody know what Mantle could be come, but collecting memorabilia in 1951 wasn't nearly like it was today.  Those that were keen to the ticket collecting are cashing in today, though.

Classic Auctions had a consignor bring a box of old schedules and tickets without knowing exactly what was in the collection. In the mix was this incredible piece of history; the ticket stub to Mickey Mantle's debut.

The PSA pop report lists just 17 tickets from this game graded.  Only 17. From a game with an attendance of 44,860!  Let that sink in for a second. Of the 17 tickets graded, 12 were graded as Authentic, while numerical grades of 1 to 10 were provided to the remaining 5 tickets.  The ticket stub that Classic Auctions offered was graded PSA 3.  Only 1 other ticket in the entire batch of 17 received a grade higher than 3.  Simply put - this is a rare item.

The auction resulted in a new record price for any baseball ticket - $141,394.80!

Photo credit to Classic Auctions -thank you for allowing you and I to see this piece of history:

With inflation, a $3.00 ticket in 1951 would be $31.56 today in 2021. A lower box seat for $32.56?  Not sure we could even park for thirty bucks at a game today...

Back when the game happened on April 17th, 1951, a baseball game had not even been shown in color on TV yet!  That didn't happen until August 11th when the Braves and Dodgers played each other.  Gas was 19 cents per gallon and a new car was $1,500.  

Had you saved a ticket stub from that game you can probably buy yourself several new cards, plenty of gas, and pay to park at a ball game, even with 2021 prices.

If you want to see a ticket stub from the first World Series game that Babe Ruth played in, you can see this historic item in our recent blog about a new card and memorabilia podcast called Trading Card Therapy HERE..

Interested in selling vintage tickets? Just Collect is always buying! We're very familiar with buying not only vintage tickets but collections like THIS complete set of Bowman baseball cards from 1951 including Mickey Mantle's rookie 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 blog here. 

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.

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Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time! 

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