This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2010
The 1952 Berk Ross Mickey Mantle is a difficult card to find in high grade, yet is one of the more under appreciated early Mantle cards from that era. This is the only example graded 88 NM/MT 8 by SGC, with just one graded higher. This example shows the raw, yet talented Mantle, in the same pose as his much more valuable 1951 Bowman rookie issue, yet appears markedly different. Why? Well, the Berk Ross issue is not as colorful as the one-yer earlier Bowman RC issue, primarily because of its streamlined manufacturing process. The Berk Ross cards are color-tinted photos rather than "color art reproductions," like the 1950-52 Bowman cards, but the grade assigned here is nevertheless accurate and extremely compelling for the issue. As the one and only example in its NM/MT 8 tier at SGC, it features an above-grade NM/MT+ perimeter around a relatively bold, crystal clear NM/MT image. Both surfaces are extremely clean and centered exactly the same, slightly off perfect. Compared to the 1951 rookie counterpart (and even the 1952 Topps issue) this 1952 Bowman issue is a far scarcer and far more challenging item to find in high-grade. While SGC reports just a single superior item (SGC NM/MT+ 92), a check of the PSA population report reveals 11 NM-MT examples, making the offered piece one of the very finest graded examples. An outstanding opportunity to obtain an early Mickey Mantle card, at the fraction of the price of a similarly graded 1951 Bowman rookie card.