Former NFL offensive lineman Evan Mathis sold a mint condition Mickey Mantle rookie card for $2.88 million.
This is the second highest price for a baseball card. Back in October of 2016, a Honus Wagner T206 card sold for $3.12 million.
The Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) rates the condition of trading cards on a scale of 1-10. Mathis’s card was graded as a 9.
A 9 on the scale is termed as “mint” condition and is explained as “a PSA Mint 9 is a superb condition card that exhibits only one of the following minor flaws: a very slight wax stain on reverse, a minor printing imperfection or slightly off-white borders. Centering must be approximately 6/40 to 65/35 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reserve.”
Mantle’s rookie card has gone up dramatically in value over the last 10 years. In 1988, that exact card in the best condition possible would be sold for approximately $3,300 according to ESPN. Ten years later and the value would balloon to $121,000. Then by 2007, the value would jump again to $240,000 for a Mantle rookie card with a 9 PSA rating.
The Mantle card was made by Topps in 1952, only its second year of making baseball cards.
According to Spotrac, Mathis made slightly over $21 million throughout his twelve year NFL career.
Mathis is not the only athlete making money on trading cards. Phillies pitcher Pat Neshek got a Shohei Ohtani autographed rookie card and sold it on eBay for $6,100. Neshek already said he regretted selling the card instead of adding it to his impressive sports memorabilia collection.