DALLAS — A 1952 Topps baseball card of Mickey Mantle, owned by 14-time PGA Tour champion Fred Couples and graded in “good-plus” condition, sold for $158,600 on Friday -- the highest price realized for that card in that condition.
The first Topps card of the New York Yankees Hall of Famer, No. 311 in the 1952 set and recognized as the “Holy Grail” of post-World War II baseball cards, was sold by Heritage Auctions in its Spring Sports Card Catalog Auction.
The final price of the card, graded 2.5 by Professional Sports Authenticator, included a 22% buyer’s premium, according to Heritage Auctions, which is based in Dallas.
Amazing aesthetics and previous HOF ownership drove this PSA 2.5 Mantle 1952 Topps to a record price last night
— Heritage Auctions Sports (@Heritage_Sport) April 4, 2026
This ‘52 Mantle comes of the collection of World Golf HOFer Fred Couples and the front presents at a much higher grade than 2.5
It sold for $158,600 last night pic.twitter.com/bq7TIpQfCv
According to Sports Collectors Daily, the previous auction sale record for the ’52 Topps Mantle is $89,249, realized during a Memory Lane Summer Rarities Auction in September 2022.
The card owned by the 1992 Masters champion that sold last weekend showed minimal wear and damage on the card’s front. A visible crease on the back of the card prevented a higher grade, The Athletic reported.
While Mantle’s true “rookie” card appeared in the 1951 Bowman product, the 1952 version was part of Topps’ first major baseball set.
Couples said in a video put together by the PGA Champions Tour (the circuit for golfers aged 50 and older) that he had played a round of golf with Mantle during the late 1980s.
“It was set up. I played a round of golf with him, and it was like a very, very, very cool full day, and we had lunch,” Couples said. “So that was starstruck. Mickey Mantle. But that was in 19 … maybe ’88 or ’89.”
Couples, 66, will play for the 41st time in the Masters this week. In 2023, he became the oldest player to make the cut at the revered golf major at Augusta National Golf Course.
He also won the Vardon Trophy, awarded for lowest scoring average, in 1991 and 1992.
Couples was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.
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