’51 Bowman Mantle Soars Past $127K to Lead Mile High Auction

The latest auction results from Mile High Card Co.’s Oct. 10 sale show an unprecedented demand for “the best of the best,” as exceptionally high grade and key rarities performed to nearly unprecedented levels.

"As a firm we are exceptionally pleased with the overall results of this sale, and we saw an impressive amount of interest and demand for great material," said Brian Drent, president of Mile High Card Co. "From the historic offering of the 1917 Collins McCarthy set as well as the 1916 Sporting News set from the E.C. McCoid “Field Of Dreams” find to the astounding selection of pristine Mickey Mantle cards, the auction afforded collectors an unsurpassed opportunity to add truly rare items to their collections.

"This auction was really a great representation of the adage that if tremendous material is offered collectors will surely take note, and this showed through with the immense passion of our customers," added Drent.

Heralding attention was definitely the dramatic prices paid for high-end Mickey Mantle cards, including the following: A stunning 1951 Bowman #253 Mickey Mantle SGC 96 Mint 9 realized $127,809, while an equally impressive price of $57,939 was paid for a 1954 Bowman #65 Mickey Mantle PSA 9 Mint. Also performing to an excellent level was a 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle PSA 8 NM/MT which found a new home to the tune of $13,062, and one of the auction stunners was the price paid for a 1967 Topps #150 Mickey Mantle graded PSA 10 Gem Mint which sold for an astounding $68,676.

Aside from the record prices of the Mickey Mantle cards other front line performers included the following: A stunning 1909-11 T206 Christy Mathewson "Dark Cap" PSA 8.5 NM/MT+ the highest graded example on the PSA Population Report sold for $34,693, as well a 1909 T204 Ramly Walter Johnson PSA 6 EX/MT found a new home at $29,717.

Also achieving success was a 1933 Goudey Final Production Sheet featuring #53 Babe Ruth and four other Hall of Famers, which was sold for $31,520, Also performing to expectant levels was a 1909 T206 Eddie Plank Sweet Caporal 350 Series PSA 5 which was hammered at $78,958, and a 1972 Topps #299 Hank Aaron PSA 10 Gem Mint at a stunning $20,655,

MHCC was very privileged to be able to handle the recently found E.C. McCoid “Field Of Dreams” Find and the collection surely didn’t disappoint with a considerable amount of bidding attention focused on the impressive array of cards. The following are some of the highlights from this section of the auction: A 1917 Collins-McCarthy #147 Babe Ruth PSA 5 EX (the highest graded example on both the PSA and SGC combined population reports brought $68,816.00, while a stunning 1917 Collins-McCarthy #82 Joe Jackson PSA 6.5 EX/MT+ sold for $27,179 and a 1917 Collins-McCarthy #80 Rogers Hornsby PSA 6.5 EX/MT+ brought $21,105.

A 1916 M101-4 Sporting News Blank Back complete set and all PSA Graded (nearly all graded PSA 3/3.5) sold for an impressive $90,227. In accord with the sale of complete sets the 1952 Topps completely PSA-graded near complete master set (missing mantle) sold aggregately for $199,869.

Many other complete sets sold at equally impressive totals including the following: A 1911 T212 Obak high-grade complete set #1 all-time on PSA Set Registry with original coupon sold for $19,331; a 1955 Bowman master baseball complete set No. 6 Current Finest on PSA Set Registry sold for $21,647; the 1965 Topps Baseball complete set completely PSA-graded No. 3 on the PSA Set Registry sold aggregately for $73,729; and a 1961 Fleer Basketball complete set No. 7 current finest on Set Registry sold for $29,966.

On the memorabilia side, a terrific 1960 Roger Maris New York Yankees Most Valuable Player Award (Dieges and Clust) sold for $15,405.00, a 1982 St. Louis Cardinals World Series Trophy sold for a final price of $3,834, a tremendous example of a circa 1910 Ty Cobb "Fan for a Fan" sold for $6,170 and an exceedingly scarce Type I photograph of Alex Pompez sold for a stunning $1,465.

An early career Roberto Clemente single-signed ONL (Giles) ball PSA/DNA MINT 9 sold for $9,345, a 1960 Willard Brown (HOF) signed Puerto Rican "Santurce" Contract sold for $1,705, a 1979 Lou Brock St. Louis Cardinals game-used jersey changed hands to the tune of $3,327, a Barry Bonds professional model game-used and signed bat used for home run No. 542 (PSA GU10) found a new home at $5,305, and a Chicago Bulls Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy sold for $8,422.00. A 2001-2002 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers game-used jersey with 9/11 patch was hammered down at $5,969, and a 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup Miniature Trophy sold for an impressive $5,105.

"We had an exceptional amount of newly registered and actively bidding registered users, which is more new customers than we've ever had for any particular auction," Drent said. "Our numbers were strong, sure, but I think that in itself is a good sign for the hobby. I know it's definitely a good one for us."

MHCC is currently planning a December 2013 premier catalog auction, and is actively seeking consignments. To consign your material or to register with the company and receive free catalogs for future events, visit www.milehighcardco.com or call Mile High Card Company directly at 303-840-2784.