A couple browsing an oversized Topps baseball-card coffee-table book at a local garage sale made an unexpected discovery when they found a rare photograph of a young Mickey Mantle tucked inside. The photograph, later authenticated by PSA/DNA as a Type 2 print, captured Mantle during spring training early in his rookie season and became the source image for his iconic 1951 Bowman rookie card. The couple also found an image of Joe DiMaggio inside the same book, according to Heritage Auctions, which later offered the Mantle photograph for sale. The photograph was sold on December 20, 2025, during Heritage’s Winter Sports Catalogue Auction, fetching $20,740. Its value was not simply tied to Mantle’s fame. Details in the photograph, including his No. 6 uniform and the bat belonging to teammate Joe Collins, help place the image at a specific point in the young player’s career.
The photograph captured Mantle as an untested rookie
Heritage’s description places the photograph at Arizona spring training, when Mantle was still an untested rookie. One clue is his rolled-up sleeve. The auction house notes that Mantle would later have enough standing to dictate tailoring changes to his uniform, but was not yet in that position at the time the photograph was taken. Another detail is the bat resting over Mantle’s right shoulder. Heritage identifies it as a bat belonging to Yankees first baseman Joe Collins. The auction description says Mantle had not yet signed a deal with Hillerich & Bradsby for his own bat, explaining why he was pictured with Collins’ equipment instead. The back of Mantle’s uniform provides another clue. The visible number is a 6 rather than the No. 7 that became permanently associated with him. Heritage notes that Mantle wore No. 6 only during the unsettled beginning of his rookie campaign before switching to No. 7.
The image became the basis for Mantle’s rookie card
The photograph is particularly significant because it became the source for Mantle’s 1951 Bowman rookie card. Heritage describes the image as one of the most recognisable photographs of Mantle, although the baseball card altered some of its visual details. The 1951 Bowman version has a distinctive posterised appearance, while Mantle’s 1953 Topps card used the same photograph but cropped more tightly around his youthful face. The same image was also used for Mantle’s 1952 Berk Ross card. Heritage’s records for a separate Type 1 example from the Jack Kramer Collection identify the photograph as the source for the 1951 Bowman and 1953 Topps cards and show Mantle wearing No. 6 with Collins’ bat over his shoulder. The garage-sale photograph was classified as Type 2 by PSA/DNA. That distinction matters because it was not one of the rare first-generation prints. Heritage’s 2024 records describe the much rarer Type 1 version as an original photograph made from the original negative during the period close to when the picture was taken. PSA’s Type 1 classification is based on that first-generation status.
The photograph’s reverse carried a matching inscription
The photograph found in the garage-sale book had handwritten words identifying the subject as “Mickey Mantle” on its reverse. Heritage said the handwriting perfectly matched the handwriting on a Type 1 example of the same photograph that it had sold for $71,700 in 2015. The auction house also noted that it had since sold another Type 1 example for more than $800,000.The $20,740 photograph was not in perfect condition. Heritage noted surface wear on the front, numerous light horizontal cracks in the glossy finish, several small areas of paper loss along the white border and a slight tear on the middle-right side. It had no other markings or stamps and was encapsulated by PSA/DNA as a Type 2 photograph. Despite those imperfections, the photograph retained a direct connection to one of the most recognisable images from Mantle’s early career. The combination of its provenance, its use as the source for the 1951 Bowman rookie card and its unusual garage-sale discovery helped make it a notable auction find.
A different Type 1 Mantle photograph sold for $843,750
The huge difference in value between different generations of the image can be seen in another Heritage sale. On April 7, 2024, the auction house sold a Type 1 print of the same Mantle action photograph for $843,750. The photograph came from the collection of Jack Kramer, a former major-league pitcher who had been Mantle’s Yankees teammate. It was an original 8-by-10-inch photograph taken by Yankees team photographer Bob Olen and had remained among Kramer’s possessions for decades. Heritage said only four known original prints of the image existed, meaning the $843,750 photograph was one of the rare Type 1 examples. The auction house described the sale as a record for a Type 1 sports photograph, surpassing the previous $516,000 record set by a Ty Cobb photograph.The same 2024 auction also included a different Mantle photograph from the Kramer Collection, a 1951 rookie headshot, which sold for $20,625. That was a separate item from the garage-sale photograph that later sold for $20,740. The distinction explains why the two prices, although strikingly similar, should not be confused. The $20,740 sale concerned the Type 2 photograph discovered inside the garage-sale book, while the $20,625 result concerned a separate Kramer Collection headshot. What began as a couple looking through an old baseball book at a local garage sale ultimately uncovered a photograph tied directly to one of Mickey Mantle’s most famous baseball-card images. Heritage sold that Type 2 photograph for $20,740 in December 2025.
