Share
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Costco has a baseball card it wants to show you. Buried deep in the website is a rare 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie card by Bowman.
Now, it’s not mint condition, but it’s got The Mick’s signature and the signature rating couldn’t be better.
Grading company PSA rates the card as very good or excellent. The company gives the signature a “10.”
Costco wants $250,000 for it. And there’s only one of them.

A 1951 Bowman Once Sold for $3.2M
Requests to Costco about where the card came from or why it’s being listed on the website instead of an auction house weren’t immediately returned. In terms of collectability, though, this is a gem.
The 1951 Bowman is the Yankee great’s true rookie card and the second-most desired, according to Sports Collectors Digest. Cards graded as “very good” sell for an average of $17,364, according to PSA. The most recent sale went for $31,200.
Only one “Mint 10” exists and has never been sold. Sports Collectors Digest reports Arizona Diamondbacks principal owner Ken Kendrick owns that card.
The next grading down, a “Mint 9” sold for $3.2 million in January 2022.
“Very good to excellent” (VG-EX4) means the card’s corners may be rounded and surface wear is noticeable. Borders may have yellowed but centering must be decent.
What sets the Costco card apart is the signature rating. The “10” rating means that when Mantle signed it, the pen didn’t skip and he took his time to do it.
The Topps card that came out for Mantle’s 1952 year is the true designated hitter for collectors with a few extra million dollars to spend. The image comes from his first spring training with the Yankees. The sale of a mint one of those cards still holds the industry record, auctioning for $12.6 million in 2022.
Sports Collectors Digest says collector Marshall Fogel declined a $30 million offer for his top-rated card.

RELATED TOPICS:
Fresno City Attorney Briefly Ineligible to Practice Law, Cites State Bar Error
13 hours ago
Grass Fire East of Sanger Contained at 21 Acres, CalFire Says
13 hours ago
Age Is Just a Number: 80-Year-Old Conquers Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Ultramarathon
14 hours ago
What to Know About the Epstein Files, a Perfect Recipe for Conspiracy Theories
14 hours ago
Mexico Pledges Action Should US Talks Fail by August Tariff Deadline
14 hours ago
Fresno Police Arrest Armed Man Found Asleep in Car
14 hours ago
Madera County Authorities Seeks Help Finding Missing Bass Lake Man
16 hours ago
Crypto Bills Hit Procedural Snag in Congress
16 hours ago

Fresno Man Found Dead After Hike Near Courtright Reservoir

Former US Army Soldier Pleads Guilty in Phone Company Hacking, Extortion Case

Fresno City Attorney Briefly Ineligible to Practice Law, Cites State Bar Error

Grass Fire East of Sanger Contained at 21 Acres, CalFire Says

Age Is Just a Number: 80-Year-Old Conquers Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Ultramarathon

What to Know About the Epstein Files, a Perfect Recipe for Conspiracy Theories
