Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle was a legendary American professional baseball player who played his entire 18-year Major League Baseball career (1951–1968) for the New York Yankees. He was a center fielder known for his powerful batting, speed, and all-around excellence, winning three AL MVP awards and leading the Yankees to 10 pennants and seven World Series championships. Mantle is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in baseball history and a cultural icon of the sport [1].

This card was first released in 1958 by Topps as part of their 1958 Topps Baseball set, distributed across the United States [1].

• It is Mantle's second appearance in a Topps base set, following his 1957 #95 card.
• The card is a 'common' in the set, meaning it was printed in large quantities relative to star cards.
• Despite being a common, high-grade copies are extremely scarce due to widespread handling and poor storage of the era.

Condition. Key flaws include centering issues, corner wear, edge whitening, and surface scratches. Common problems for this card are off-center printing and soft corners due to the era's production quality. graded 6 is a frequent grade, but graded 8+ is rare [1].

Storage. Store in a rigid, non-PVC plastic sleeve or coin holder, kept in a cool, dry environment away from direct light. Use a toploader for display and avoid handling the card face directly.

Authenticity. Fakes are rare for this common card, but reprints may exist. Look for modern paper stock, overly sharp printing, or incorrect color saturation. Authentic 1958 cards have a distinct off-white to cream back with period-correct typography. Authentication by graded or Beckett is recommended for high-value copies [2].