Fred Couples sold his Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps rookie card for a record amount on Friday evening, leading into Masters week after a big haul on the iconic baseball card.
The card was sold through Heritage Auctions on Friday for $158,600, setting a record sale for the card as graded by PSA as a 2.5 out of 10 ("Gem Mint"). PSA is a company that grades millions of sports cards and memorabilia every year, ranking sports cards based on a variety of factors, including centering of the image, as well as the sharpness of a card's corners and edges.
Couples' card was considered "Good+" in that 2.5 grade. It showed minimal wear on the front, considering the card is nearly 75 years old. However, the card has a visible crease on the back, which reduced the overall grade. Still, the condition of the front of the card was well above other similar versions of this card receiving a similar grade. That drove the sales price at auction.
The previous record for the sale of a PSA 2.5 version of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie was $62,000 in October 2025. Couples' card actually sold for a higher amount than the record $117,000 for a PSA 4.5 version of this card, sold in August 2025.
Couples actually played golf with Mantle in 1988 or 1989, based on a recollection he shared in 2020 for a PGA Tour Champions video.
The Mantle rookie is one of the most iconic baseball cards, just behind the T206 Honus Wagner card.
Couples is the 1992 Masters champion, and he holds the record for being the oldest player to make the cut in the Masters, doing so in 2023 at the age of 63 years, 6 months, 5 days old.
