[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] A card featuring a photo of legendary Major League Baseball (MLB) slugger Mickey Mantle was sold for $12.6 million (approximately 16.9 billion KRW), setting a new record for the highest price ever paid for a sports-related collectible.
On the 28th (local time), Heritage Auctions in the United States announced that a 1952 baseball card issued by the card manufacturer Tops featuring Mantle was sold for 16.9 billion KRW at an auction held that morning.
Baseball cards are graded on a scale from 1 to 10 based on their condition, and the card in this auction received a grade of 9.5, maintaining the same condition as it was 70 years ago before its release.
According to Heritage Auctions, the original owner of the card, Anthony Giordano, purchased the card for 67 million KRW at a baseball card show in 1991 and put it up for auction 31 years later. The card owner is expected to make a profit of over 200 times the original purchase price.
Heritage stated that this sale set the highest price ever recorded in an auction related to sports collectibles. The previous highest price for a baseball card was for a Honus Wagner card produced in 1909, which sold for 8.6 billion KRW in August last year. Additionally, in February, a half-torn Wagner card was sold for 570 million KRW at an SCP auction.
Mickey Mantle was a legendary outfielder for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968, rising to stardom with 536 home runs. Mantle was also named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times in the American League, to which the Yankees belong.
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