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Analysis of the authentic card

First off, a little about the history of the card and the 1952 Topps cards in general. The 1952 Topps set was Topps first standard issue set. The set was divided into 6 series. The low series cards were the first issued, however, demand didn't peak until the second series. Low and mid series cards surviving today are in significantly larger quantities that the elusive high number series. Card number 311, which happens to be Mantle, leads off the high numbers. These cards were issued well after the earlier series and had limited demand. A rumor has been floating around for years that Topps actually produced thousands and thousands of these cards that they could not sell, so they had them hauled out to sea and dumped.

Many of the 1952 Topps cards had production problems. Today, it is somewhat of a rarity to find a perfectly centered 1952 Topps card. Almost never will a card exhibit perfect centering of both the front and back because many of the original sheets that the cards were cut from did not line up properly to begin with. Because of this, the majority of the cards were cut off-center and many were miscut (some badly enough that the neighboring card on the sheet was showing). Many cards were also "diamond cuts" where the image is tilted, but the card is of standard size.

Topps issued two variations of the Mickey Mantle card. The two cards have at least 8 differences between them, they are easy to detect. In the picture below, the front of the card labeled Var. A corresponds to the back of the card also labeled Var. A.

#1 - One of the most obvious of the variations, the Yankees logo is enclosed entirely in a black outline box in Var. A, while in Var. B, the logo has only a partial black box outline around it.

#2 - On Var. A, the bottom left corner is missing a pixel that leaves the corner incomplete. In Var. B, the corner is nearly perfectly squared off.

#3 & #4 - On Var. B, the upper left corner black border extends slightly horizontally past the left vertical border and the upper right corner black border extends slightly horizontally past the right vertical border. In Var. A, the upper left corner black border is nearly perfect square and the upper right corner black border is indented slightly (< .5mm) horizontally inside of right vertical border.

#5 - The least obvious of the variations, on Var. B, there is an unprinted pixel in the blue background near the left edge of the card. Var. A has no missing pixel.

#6 - In Var. B, the rows of stars that make up the box around Mantle's name and signature has a "chewed up" look to it. In Var. A, the rows of stars are lined up neatly

#7 - In Var. A, the S from DiMaggio's lines up directly under the H in Right, while in Var. B, the S lines up under the T in Right.

#8 - The stitching of the baseball surrounding the card number runs in opposite directions on the two variations. In Var. A, it points to the left and the lines that make up the stitching are drawn rather thin, while in Var. B, the stitching lines point to the right and are drawn much thicker and in darker ink tone.

Many other variations of this card exist, however, they are all counterfeits and/or reprints. Check out known counterfeits and how to spot them to see some of the common features of a counterfeit production.

I have also seen that the bat in the Yankees logo has a white streak when it should be solid black.