The legendary center fielder Mickey Mantle had a Hall of Fame career with the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. Mantle was a switch hitter and one of the greatest power hitters in baseball history. He won three American League MVP awards and was selected to the All-Star team 16 times over his 18-year career. Mantle’s on-field accomplishments and popularity have made his vintage baseball cards among the most valuable in the hobby. Several of his early rookie and career cards have broken records by selling for over $1 million at auction.

Mantle’s most valuable and iconic card is generally considered to be his 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card. Only around 50 of the original 1952 Topps Mantle rookies are known to exist in gem mint condition. In 1999, the highest graded PSA 8 1952 Mantle rookie sold for $121,000, setting a new record at the time.

One of the finest known 1952 Mantle rookies would shatter that record in 2021. In January 2021, Heritage Auctions sold a PSA Gem Mint 9.5 graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card for an astonishing $5.2 million, including buyer’s premium. At the time, it was the highest price ever paid for a baseball card at public auction. The unprecedented sale proved just how rare and desirable high-grade examples of Mantle’s iconic rookie have become for serious collectors.

Another 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie in similarly pristine PSA Gem Mint 9.5 condition would go on to break records yet again in 2022. In August 2022, the historic card sold through private sale for $12.6 million, more than doubling the previous auction record. The astronomical price tag highlights how Mantle’s first cardboard has cemented itself as the crown jewel of the hobby. Only the finest conditioned specimens are even in play for such astronomical figures in today’s booming sports card market.

While no other Mantle card has come close to matching the record prices for his 1952 Topps rookie, several of his other earliest issues have broken the seven-figure threshold over the past decade as well. In 2007, one of the few known PSA Gem Mint 9 graded copies of Mantle’s 1951 Bowman rookie card changed hands for $1.3 million. This set a record for the highest price paid for any card from the hallowed ’51 Bowman set and remains among the priciest non-’52 Topps cards out there.

In January 2015, a PSA Mint 8 graded 1953 Topps Mantle card became the fourth baseball card ever to sell for over $1 million, fetching $1.1 million including buyer’s premium at auction. The 1953 Topps issue featured Mantle in his New York Yankees uniform during his breakout sophomore season. It is considered the most direct follow-up to his famous rookie and remains highly coveted, albeit not quite as rare as the ’52.

A couple other early Mantle cards have also crossed seven figures in recent times. In April 2018, a PSA 8 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle sold for the then earth-shattering price of $2.88 million (with premium). This broke multiple longstanding records and marked the first post–World War II card to achieve such a monumental price. A year later in May 2019, a PSA 8 graded 1956 Topps Mantle #311 (his second card in that set) changed hands privately for $1.32 million. While not his rookie, the coveted ’56s have proven some of the most worthwhile high-grade Mantle cards for those able to afford such rarified air in the hobby.

No other player has had as many individual cards achieve such astronomical prices as Mickey Mantle. His rookie cards from 1952 Topps and 1951 Bowman alone are worth over $6 million combined for the finest specimens. They represent the pinnacle of the sports collecting world alongside some of the rarest and most iconic vintage cards in existence. Mantle’s cards have entered a whole new stratosphere price-wise in recent bidding wars between deep-pocketed enthusiasts. As one of the all-time greats on the field and most collectible names off it, Mantle’s cardboard legacy as the game’s most valuable will likely stand the test of time for generations to come barring the discovery of unseen PSA 10 gems still awaiting their big reveals.