CSG just graded a '52 Topps Mantle at an "8" that someone crossed over from another slab as well as a "4.5". They say the "8" is a Type 1 and the "4.5" is a Type 2.
According CSG, and the difference is that:
a) the Mantle signature of the Type 1 has an "e" that curves up, while the Type 2 does not (because it is cut off)
b) The border around the rectangle of stars on the front is solid in Type 1 and jagged in Type 2.
c) The seams on the baseball on the back of the card in the top left corner go to the left on the Type 1, but go to the right and bolder on Type 2.
d) The alignment of the word "DiMaggio's" on the back of the card is aligned slightly more towards the edge of the card on the Typ e 2.
How Andy Broome and his team noticed all of this, I do not know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_McshAcV50
And I wonder what grade the "8" had in the previous holder and what the grading company they crossed it over from was.
https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...mickey-mantle/
And I wonder what a CSG 8 might go for? As Andy says in the video, the surface is close to flawless.
**WHOOPS probably should have posted this in the post-war forum**