Willie Mays
1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays rookie cards highlight Mile High auction
There are few more valuable baseball card sets than the 1951 Bowman set that featured rookie cards of Hall of Famers and baseball legends Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays.
Mile High Card Company has copies of both the 1951 Bowman rookies up for bid in its December Auction.
Both the Mantle and Mays cards are graded PSA 8. A 1951 Mantle in a PSA 8 grade sold for $450,000 at Goldin Co. in June, while a PSA 8 of Mays sold for $186,000 at Goldin in March.
NEW RELEASES: New card sets just in time for Christmas
Other top vintage cards highlighting the auction include:
• A 1916 M101-4 Sporting News #87 Joe Jackson (Blank Back) (PSA 7 NM).
• 1934 Goudey #61 Lou Gehrig (PSA 8 NM-MT).
• 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle (PSA 8 NM-MT).
• 1955 Topps #164 Roberto Clemente (PSA 8 NM-MT).
“We don’t have a T206 Wagner this time around, but what we do have to end the year is a very deep auction full of high-quality cards and memorabilia,” MHCC President and CEO Brian Drent said.
The auction opened Monday and runs through Dec. 14.
Other elite cards include: a 1910-11 Sporting Life M116 Hans Wagner (Pastel) (SGC 7.5 NM+); 1915 Cracker Jack #103 Joe Jackson (SGC 2 GOOD); 1941 Playball #71 Joe DiMaggio (SGC 8.5 NM-MT+); 1951 Bowman #1 Whitey Ford (PSA 8 NM-MT); 1952 Bowman #101 Mickey Mantle (PSA 8 NM-MT); 1952 Topps #407 Ed Mathews (SGC 7.5 NM+); 1957 Topps #76 Bob Clemente (PSA 9 MINT); 1957 Topps #328 Brooks Robinson (PSA 9 MINT); 1959 Topps #478 Bob Clemente (PSA 9 MINT); 1960 Topps #316 Willie McCovey All-Star Rookie (PSA 9 MINT); 1960 Topps #326 Bob Clemente (PSA 9 MINT); 1963 Topps #553 Rookie Stars (Stargell RC) (PSA 9 MINT); 1966 Topps #255 Willie Stargell (PSA 10 GEM MINT); 1972 Topps #309 Roberto Clemente (PSA 10 GEM MINT); 1959 Topps #1 Johnny Unitas (PSA 9 MINT); and a 1957 Topps #17 Bob Cousy (PSA 8 NM-MT).
The auction also includes a collection of complete and near-complete sets with each card in the set autographed. They include: a 1958 Topps near complete autographed set with 449 of the 494 issued cards signed (PSA/DNA, JSA); 1962 Topps partial (264/598) autographed set, including Maris, Mays, Aaron, etc. (PSA/DNA, JSA); 1964 Topps Baseball partial (201/587) autographed set (JSA); 1966 Topps Baseball partial (332/598) autographed set (JSA); 1968 Topps Baseball near complete (509/598) autographed set (JSA); 1972 Topps partial (400/787) autographed set, including Williams, Mays, Aaron, Fisk, etc. (PSA/DNA, JSA); 1973 Topps near complete (615/660) autographed set (JSA); 1974 Topps (657/660) and Topps Traded (43) along with (13/15) Washington NL all autographed (JSA); 1984 Topps (792) and Topps Traded (132) completely autographed sets (JSA); 1985 Topps and Topps Traded completely autographed set (JSA); 1986 Topps Baseball (792) complete set autographed (JSA); 1987 Fleer Baseball complete set with every card autographed (JSA); and 1988 Topps complete set (792) with every card autographed (JSA).
Unopened material includes: a 1950 Bowman near complete set (251/252 missing Berra) (PSA Graded); 1955 Topps complete set (PSA); 1993 SP Baseball complete set (PSA Graded, #2 set on PSA Registry with 9.203 Set Rating; 1933 O-Pee-Chee V304-A complete set (includes Series A & Series B (1-72) SGC graded; and 1933-34 World Wide Gum Ice Kings complete set completely graded; an exceptionally rare 1964 Topps high-number unopened vending box (500); 1972 O-Pee-Chee unopened 2nd Series Wax Box (GAI 9 MINT; 1974 Topps Baseball unopened wax box; 1976 Topps Baseball unopened wax box; 1979 Topps unopened 2-Box tray case (BBCE Authenticated); and a 1980 Topps unopened 36-pack wax box Lot of 2 (BBCE Authenticated).
