Perfect Condition

Posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 6:48 am

I have a signed mickey mantle yankees topps baseball card, sealed in perfect condition?

How much do you think this card is worth, while cleaning our new place my friend and I came across a bunch of trading cards. even shaq's rookie card. all in perfect condition enclosed in the hard cases. how much would this and the Mickey Mantle card be worth.

Julian has the right idea, but you need to know a few things before you start seeing $$$ signs. Beckett Baseball Monthly is the bible of card values, any of the Beckett sports publications for that matter.

First you need to know the year of the card. Somewhere on the reverse of the card it should list the name of the manufacturer and the year of issue. The year of manufacture was for the prior season. In other words, if it says 1956 as the year, then the card was for his 1955 seasons. You'll see that when you look at the stats box --- the last year listed will be for the season before.

Also, you need to know that Topp's in 1996 and 1997 did what they called a "Mickey Mantle Reprint" set. There were 19 cards in the set that were reprints of Bowman and Topp's cards for each year that he played in the majors. This will also be marked on the card. It will show what looks identical to the face and reverse of the card, but on the reverse it will say card #1 of 19 or something to that extent. And of course the reprints do not command near the value as the originals.

As far as the condition of the cards, the first place you always check is the corners. Are they still sharp and pointed or do they look round and worn? Is the card centered well? Does the face or reverse show signs of wear or what I call high and low spots.

Hopefully this helps you get started in your search.