Maybe I'm misunderstanding your argument, but it sounds like you're comparing expensive pre-war cards that aren't all that rare [expensive yes, but not rare imo] to post-war cards that are rare.
I don't know enough about post-war cards to list really rare cards...but I'm guessing if you went back through your auction catalogs to compare 5-10 post-war rarities to 5-10 pre-war rarities the numbers drastically change.
If you look at 5-10 cards of which I believe fewer exist than a T206 Wagner, how many times did these sell?
E107 Wagner
E92 Croft's Cocoa Wagner
Voskamp's Coffee Wagner
JK&A Wagner
Texas Tommy Joe Jackson
ANY Just So Tobacco Baseball Card
Any California League or Player's League Old Judge
And for fun,
T231 Frank Baker
Maple Crispette Stengel
I don't have a clue on the numbers for these cards -- they might still be significantly more than the 1961 Mantle you mention, but I'm guessing the numbers might be more in line with what you're expecting to see.
Regards,
Richard.
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