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A photograph of Mickey Mantle taken during spring training in Phoenix on March 5, 1951, was sold for $3 million in a private sale brokered by Hunt Auctions. The image, authenticated as a first-generation photo by PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), predates the famous 1952 Topps baseball card featuring Mantle and has become highly sought after due to its rarity and historical significance. This reflects a growing market for premium original sports photographs, with Henry Yee of PSA noting that such items often sell privately without reaching public auctions.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A photograph of Mickey Mantle taken on March 5, 1951, during Yankees spring training in Phoenix by an unknown International News Service photographer, has been sold for a record-breaking $3 million. Ron Firman from Rye, New York, purchased the image at a private sale brokered by Hunt Auctions. The photo is classified as a PSA Type 1, meaning it was developed directly from the original negative within two years of being taken and is considered one of the highest-quality images available. With Mantle's career including 536 home runs, this iconic photograph represents a significant piece of baseball history. According to PSA photo authenticator Henry Yee, there is currently high demand for such rare Type 1 photographs among new collectors and investors, but supply remains extremely limited.
Written for “Mickey Mantle Card Sale” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 13929 · logged 2026-09-16
The most iconic Mickey Mantle image fetched an insane price.
asserted
image → fetch → price
Ron Firman of Rye, N.Y., purchased for $3 million the first edition of the non-autographed, PSA-authenticated photo of the iconic Yankees center fielder that later became Mantle’s legendary 1952 Topps card.
asserted
that → purchase → fielder
The picture of Mantle was sold at a private sale brokered by Hunt Auctions.
asserted
picture → sell → Auctions
It is a PSA Type 1 photo, meaning it is a “first-generation photograph, developed from the original negative, during the period (within approximately two years of when the picture was taken),” according to psacard.com.
uncertain
picture → mean → psacard.com
That picture was taken by an unknown International News Service photographer at Yankees spring training in Phoenix on March 5, 1951, though the photographer carried no credit so it’s unclear if the individual was a company staffer or a freelancer.
uncertain
individual → take → credit
“The demand for high-end original Type I photographs from new collectors and investors coming into the space is at an all-time high,” said PSA photo authenticator Henry Yee.
asserted
Yee → come → high
When an item of this caliber is offered for sale, often it is sold privately and does not even make it to public auction — such as in this case.”
asserted
it → offer → case
Highly graded copies of Mantle’s iconic 1952 Topps card have fetched obscene prices at auction, including a record $12.6 million in August 2022.
asserted
copies → grade → August
Mantle’s rookie card is from Bowman’s 1951 set, which has sold for as much as $843,750, though that card is not a real picture but a painted image.
asserted
card → sell → 843,750
Mantle played for the Yankees from 1951-66 and authored one of baseball’s most legendary careers, primarily manning center field as a left-handed-swinging power hitter from Oklahoma.
asserted
Mantle → play → Oklahoma
He tallied 536 homers, but his body began to fall apart after the 1961 home run chase with Roger Maris, when Mantle hit 54 home runs and drove in 128 runs, while Maris hit a then-record 61 homers and drove in 141.
asserted
Maris → tally → 141
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