New Record Sale - Mickey Mantle Card Sells for $12.6 Million, Breaking Record

A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card was auctioned for a record-breaking $12.6 million on Sunday, breaking the previous record for a sports trading card by nearly $2 million.

The price also set a new record for the price paid for a post-World War II trading card as well as any trading card that has been graded SGC 9.5 or higher. It is one of around 200 Mantle rookie cards that have ever received that grade, according to the auction house's website. Not including the PSA 10-rated version sold at auction in 2018, there are only seven Mantle rookie cards with similar grading, according to ESPN.

The card was sold by Heritage Auctions in Chicago and is graded SGC 9.5. In case you’re wondering what that means, it's basically an indication of how well preserved the card is—a 10 would be “perfect mint condition” while 1 would mean it's so damaged or altered as to be unusable.

Mantle was an American baseball player who played during the 1950s and 1960s. In his career, he won seven World Series titles with the New York Yankees. The Mantle card is one of the first sports items to be sold at auction for eight figures. “We always knew this card would shatter records and expectations,” said Chris Ivy, the director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions “But that doesn’t make it any less of a thrill.”

The card has now shattered the record for any post-World War II trading card, and it is one of only three sports items ever sold at auction for eight figures. We can’t wait to see what happens next!