A 1952 Topps card showing a then-20-year-old Mickey Mantle sold for $12.6 million through Heritage Auctions, breaking the record for the largest total ever paid for a sports item, card, or memorabilia, ESPN reported Saturday night.
“This card is arguably the finest-condition example of the most iconic post-war card in the world,” Heritage director of sports auctions Chris Ivy said in a statement, via ESPN.
Mantle made his debut with the New York Yankees in 1951 and earned All-Star honors for the first time in 1952. He went on to become a 20-time All-Star, three-time AL MVP, seven-time World Series champion, a Triple Crown and Gold Glove winner, and a Hall of Famer.
The massive sale shattered a record that was only set a few weeks ago when a Honus Wagner card sold for $7.25 million.
The $12.6 million Mantle card was reportedly found in 1986 when a truck driver named Ted Lodge inherited a home from his late father and found boxes of Topps cards from 1952. More than 5,000 of those cards were sold to a collector for $125,000 and five years later, the Mantle card was sold for $50,000.
Anthony Giordano owned the card for more than three decades before getting it graded and parting with it for more than 250 times what he paid for it.
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