1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE CARD OPENS AT $1 IN NO-RESERVE LIVE AUCTION MAY 19

The card that sold for $12.6 million in its best grade goes to the highest bidder

PHOENIX, May 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 card graded PSA 2 will open at $1 in a no-reserve live auction on Tuesday, May 19, at 10 p.m. EDT on the Pristine Auction platform.

PSA has graded 2,075 copies of the card. Only three PSA 10s and six PSA 9s exist. The card being offered is one of 239 at the PSA 2 level. In 2022 an SGC 9.5 copy sold for $12.6 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for any sports card.

"I've wanted one of these my whole life. Every collector has. You grow up hearing about the warehouse purge, the barge, the ocean, and you think about all the ones that didn't make it. This one did. On May 19 it goes to whoever wants it most." — Jared Kavlie, President and Founder, Pristine Auction

The card's scarcity traces to what collectors call the "warehouse purge." When the 1952 Topps high-number series, which included the Mantle at No. 311, failed to sell through at retail, Topps executive Sy Berger arranged to have several hundred unsold cases loaded onto a barge and dumped in the Atlantic Ocean. Card historians dispute the details, but the supply has never recovered.

The 1952 Topps set was the company's first major baseball release. Its design introduced hand-colored player photos, facsimile autographs, and career statistics on the back, a template card manufacturers still follow. The card is recognized by people who have never collected anything. The National Baseball Hall of Fame has cited the set as the starting point of the modern collecting hobby.

The 1952 Topps Mantle is among the most counterfeited cards on the market. Every card sold through Pristine Auction is backed by its Always Authentic Guarantee, which covers buyers beyond third party certification alone.

The Pristine Live! Elite broadcast begins at 8 p.m. EDT on May 19. The Mantle is expected to cross the block at approximately 10 p.m. EDT. The card listing is available at pristineauction.com. Bidding is available through the Pristine Auction iOS and Android apps.

For additional background and card history visit The Holy Grail of Baseball Cards.

About Pristine Auction

Pristine Auction is an online auction house specializing in authenticated sports memorabilia and trading cards. Founded in 2010, the company connects collectors and consignors through no-reserve auctions backed by its Always Authentic Guarantee.

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SOURCE Pristine Auction