1952 Rosen Mantle SGC 9.5 Final Price – Too high, too low, just right?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I think 12.6M for ANY baseball card, a piece of cardboard, with all that's going on in the world, makes me mad. That someone has that much disposable pocket change, to plunk down on a baseball card, no matter their "investment" or possible "flip" options or what the f%$# ever, makes me mad. I am not jealous. I find it ridiculous in the extreme and it makes me mad. And with that, I am done...

Is there something they could have bought with that money (assuming a purchase for personal use only) that you would be less offended by?

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Is there something they could have bought with that money (assuming a purchase for personal use only) that you would be less offended by?

I honestly don't know, Peter. I am guessing that if the buyer has 12.6M in pocket change, then he/she/they have an income/estate/portfolio that someone like myself cannot even comprehend. Perhaps they might do something philanthropic (as opposed to something personal) with their pocket change, but it (still, indeed) is a free country. They can do whatever with their money. I am not jealous or envious; I am living nicely with a nice collection of cards and memorabilia. I simply cannot rationalize a 12.6M baseball card purchase. I can't come to grips with the value of any of these baseball cards, much less Mickey Mantle.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I honestly don't know, Peter. I am guessing that if the buyer has 12.6M in pocket change, then he/she/they have an income/estate/portfolio that someone like myself cannot even comprehend. Perhaps they might do something philanthropic (as opposed to something personal) with their pocket change, but it (still, indeed) is a free country. They can do whatever with their money. I am not jealous or envious; I am living nicely with a nice collection of cards and memorabilia. I simply cannot rationalize a 12.6M baseball card purchase. I can't come to grips with the value of any of these baseball cards, much less Mickey Mantle.

I understand the reaction, was just curious if you would feel better about it if they bought a villa, or that much Apple stock, or a Picasso, or whatever. Or is the offense really just spending that kind of money on oneself rather than doing something more philanthropic with it.

[53toppscollector]

It is really difficult to zoom out from present day and think about what something might command long into the future.

In 1990, a copy of the Declaration of Independence sold for $1.5M. A year later, a copy sold for $2.4M. Those were original copies (I believe there are only 23 original copies printed at that time)

Last year, a copy that was printed in the early 1800s (one of 200 copies) sold for over $4m in an auction. In 1991, if you told the person who paid $2.4m (which was way above what the previous sale was) that a copy with less rarity, printed 40+ years later, would sell for $4.4m, they'd have probably laughed.

30 years from now, the 9.5 Mantle might sell for $40M. Maybe we wont even be using money 30 years from now, who knows.

25 years ago, I still connected to the internet with a CD that I got in the mail from a company called AOL. At the time it was revolutionary. Now its like a relic of a bygone era. 25 years from now the world is going to look a lot different, and I bet the Rosen Mantle would be valued at $25-30M. Or whatever that equates to in whatever the next version of Bitcoin is.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by 53toppscollector

30 years from now, the 9.5 Mantle might sell for $40M.

It very well may. But in 2052, $40,000,000 won't be as impressive a sum as it is today, due to inflation.

I remember there was a special lottery in New York State in 1976. I don't know the details, but the grand prize was $1,000 a week for life. The person who won was 19 at the time and is presumably still alive today, still receiving weekly $1,000 payments. But if I've calculated correctly, that $1,000 in 2022 dollars is the equivalent of $192 in 1976 dollars... the point I'm trying to make is that $1,000 is not as impressive a sum today as it was 46 years ago.