A decades-old, mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card could break a record at auction.
Key points:
Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees between 1951 and 1968, winning seven World Series titles
The 1952 card, considered to be in near perfect condition, was bought for $US50,000 in 1991
The current record for a baseball card is $US6.6 million for a 1909 Honus Wagner card
The collector’s item from 1952 features one of baseball’s most celebrated and charismatic legends, and is widely regarded as one of just a handful in near-perfect condition.
It is estimated the final cost of the card could exceed $US10 million ($14.35 million) when the auction ends on August 27.
The current record is $US6.6 million ($9.47 million) for a 1909 Honus Wagner card that was sold at auction a year ago, months after another 70-year-old Mantle card fetched $US5.2 million ($7.46 million).
Interest was already heavy on Monday when the auction debuted online, with bidding already up to at least $US4.2 million ($6 million).
No matter the final price for the rare Mantle rookie card, it will be a hefty profit for the current owner, a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur who bought it for $US50,000 ($71,745) at a New York City show in 1991.
“Every time he got up to the plate, the crowd would go crazy, the roars would be there. And he never disappointed you … He had that aura about him,” card owner Anthony Giordano said of Mantle, who spent his entire career with the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968.
Mickey Mantle was one of the greatest offensive players in the history of baseball.(Getty Images: Stanley Weston)
“Whether you’re from the New York area or not, or a Yankees fan, it was always Mickey Mantle that was highlighted.”
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