Mickey Mantle Card: The Most Expensive Baseball Card in History Just Sold for $12.6 Million

The price doubled the previous record for a baseball card when it was rare Honorable Wagner Sold for $6.6 million last year. It also broke the record for any item of sports memorabilia, surpassing $9.3 million sale From Diego Maradona’s famous “Hand of God” shirt.

Mantle spent 17 years playing for the New York Yankees and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. The record-breaking card from the junior season was produced by Giant Tops Trading Card.

For the auction house, selling represents the growing allure of sports collectibles.

“The outcome of the eight-figure auction in the sports market was a fantasy only a decade ago,” Chris Ivey, director of sports auctions at Heritage, said in the statement.

“We always knew this card would break records and expectations. But that doesn’t make it so exciting to be part of the auction in which a single item breaks the eight-figure threshold for the first time. It’s an extraordinary feat for our amazing team of sports experts at Heritage Auctions. We wouldn’t have done it without our dispatcher, Anthony Giordano, who put his trust in Heritage to bring this wonderful card to market.”

Anthony Giordano bought the Mantle card for a record price in 1991: $50,000. According to the statement, he kept it hidden for three decades before bringing it to Heritage Auctions.

“She carries the best qualities any 1952 player could have: perfect positioning, scoring and four sharp corners,” Ivey said in the statement. “That the Beginner’s Mantle Card has stayed in this state for 70 years is a real miracle.”