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1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie card could set another record in Memory Lane auction
The iconic 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card has established itself as the most valuable trading card in the hobby, routinely selling for more than $1 million and setting an all-time record when an SGC 9.5 version sold for $12.6 million earlier this year.
But the rare, unique card is not Mantle’s official rookie card. That card — a 1951 Bowman — has a record price of $750,000 but could be about to soar to new seven-figure heights.
Memory Lane Inc. has a PSA 9 version of the 1951 Bowman Mantle in its Fall Rarities Premium Auction, which opens Nov. 12.
There are only nine copies of the card graded PSA 9, with only one graded a 10. A PSA 9 has not come to auction since 2018, and that one set the record at $750,000. The new one has an opening bid of $500,000 and Memory Lane expects it to sell for at least $4 million in the current market.
The card is part of a 15-card consignment of high-grade Mantle cards that Memory Lane calls one of the best Mantle collections ever assembled. Compiled by an East Coast collector over the last decade, 14 of the 15 cards are graded PSA Mint 9, with a 1953 Topps card graded PSA 8.5.
The majority of the cards represent the highest grades recorded on the PSA Set Registry except for one or two examples rated higher.
The group also includes: a 1952 Bowman (PSA 9); 1953 Bowman (PSA 9); 1954 Bowman (PSA 9); 1955 Bowman (PSA 9); 1957-1959 Topps (all PSA 9); 1962 Topps Managers Dream with Willie Mays (PSA 9); 1966 Topps (PSA 9); 1967 Topps (PSA 9); and 1969 Topps “white letter” variation (PSA 9).
The auction also features a collection of 41 1933 Goudey Hall of Famers, with 40 of them graded PSA 8, including all four Babe Ruth cards and a #92 Lou Gehrig. Memory Lane sold a PSA 9 copy of the #53 Ruth card for $4.2 million last year. It also includes a PSA 9 copy of the Nap Lajoie rarity.
At the same time Goudey distributed its first comprehensive card set, the DeLong Company produced a much smaller, unique set of its own. Memory Lane is also offering the top-ranked DeLong set on the PSA Set Registry. It is the first time the set has been offered at auction.
The DeLong set includes a PSA 8 Gehrig and boasts an overall GPA of 8.973. It is being offered as a complete set, but if the cumulative total of bids on the individual cards is greater, it will be broken and cards distributed to individual bidders.
The 177-lot auction also includes the second-best 1934 Goudey Baseball set. The 96-card collection has a GPA of 8.92 and includes the #61 Gehrig (PSA 8.5) and #37 Gehrig (PSA 8) as well as a PSA 9 Hank Greenberg. The set is being broken up, with cards sold individually.
Bidding begins on Nov. 12 and runs through Dec. 3. To bid or for more information, visit MemoryLaneInc.com.
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
