Mint Mantle Card Auction Hits Record

New Jersey seller who paid $50K in 1991 collects $12.6M
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 28, 2022 10:10 AM CDT
Mantle Card Auctions for Record $12.6M
A Mickey Mantle baseball card is displayed at Heritage Auctions in Dallas last month.   (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the record books as the most ever paid for sports memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially more lucrative in recent years. The rare Mantle card eclipsed the record just posted a few months ago—$9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious "Hand of God" goal in soccer's 1986 World Cup, the AP reports. It easily surpassed the $7.25 million for a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card recently sold in a private sale. And just last month, the heavyweight boxing belt reclaimed by Muhammad Ali during 1974's “Rumble in the Jungle” sold for nearly $6.2 million.

The Mantle card dates from 1952 and is widely regarded as one of just a handful of the baseball legend in near-perfect condition. The auction netted a handsome profit for Anthony Giordano, a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur who bought it for $50,000 at a New York City show in 1991. "As soon as it hit 10 million I just turned in. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore," Giordano, 75, said Sunday. His sons monitored the auction for him. "They stayed up and called me this morning bright and early to tell me that it reached where it reached." The card was one of dozens of sports collectibles up for auction. In all, the items raked in some $28 million, said Derek Grady of Heritage Auctions.

"Sports collectibles are finally getting their due as an investment," Grady said. "The best sports items are now starting to rival artwork, rare coins and rare artifacts as a great investment vehicle." The switch-hitting Mantle was a Triple Crown winner in 1956, a three-time American League MVP and a seven-time World Series champion. The Hall of Famer died in 1995. "Some people might say it's just a baseball card," said John Holden, a professor in sports management law at Oklahoma State and amateur collector. "It's a thing of art for some people," he added. Like pieces of art that have no intrinsic value, he said, when it comes to sports cards, the worth is in the eye of the beholder—or the pocketbook of the potential bidder. "The value," Holden said, "is whatever the market’s willing to support."

(More baseball cards stories.)

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