The official Mickey Mantle Pickup Thread. All Mick, all the time!

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by brian1961

By the way, there was one major card the Mint Man chose not to include in the photos, the Piece de Resistance of Barbara's collection. When Alan Rosen had the celebratory photo snapped of buying Barbara Grossman's massive Yankee collection, a smiling Barbara was holding thick wads of hundred-dollar bills, while Mr. Rosen had one arm at his chest holding three of the cards, and, with his other arm around Barbara, he held up one card, the crown jewel---the subject of chapter 13 of my book, a Mickey Mantle card so beautiful, so fascinating, and so profoundly rare in high grade, I gave it the deserving name, THE MALTESE FALCON OF BASEBALL CARDS. If you're fortunate to own a copy of Mr. Rosen's second and last book, TRUE MINT, you will find this celebratory photo on page 63. Not to be flagrantly coy, but if someone wishes to load up a scan of the photo, I'd be grateful. My tech expert is away, and I figured Mr. Rosen won't mind anymore, and there might be a few curious Mantle connoisseurs out there who might enjoy this photo from the fall of 1987...... ---Brian Powell

My dear son kindly edited a scan of the aforementioned TRUE MINT, page 63, to the requisite KB limit a jpeg is allowed to have on this forum. Here we have the celebratory photo being snapped upon the occasion of Mr. Mint's purchase of Barbara Grossman's collection. As you read The Mint Man's remembrances, and study the accompanying photo, note carefully what he's holding in his right hand, the card I have given the name, THE MALTESE FALCON OF BASEBALL CARDS, the most profound Mickey Mantle gem of all. Early in the millennium, this particular 1953 Stahl-Meyer Franks Mickey Mantle was graded by PSA. When the registered mail box was delivered to its owner, and he unwrapped the layers of bubble wrap to see PSA's verdict, he began weeping uncontrollably with utter joy, for the label said, "PSA 9 MINT"! A verified flawless, priceless, and king-sized blue diamond or ruby of a Mickey Mantle baseball card, this.

I trust you will find this more than a bit intriguing... --- Brian Powell