Kitchener man's 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card on the auction block

If there's one regret Bob Smith of Kitchener, Ont., has, it's that he would have taken better care of his bubble gum cards when he was a kid growing up in 1950s and 1960s Brantford.

If he did, the original 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card he's selling this weekend online at Miller and Miller Auction in New Hamburg, could be worth a lot more than the estimated $15,000 and $20,000.

"Kids played with the cards. We used to play closest to the wall or knock downs where you throw a card and try to knock down other cards," Smith said.

"So consequently the [Mickey Mantle] card is only a grade one."

Cards are graded on a score of between one and 10. A grade one rating in the world of sports card memorabilia means a value of only a few thousands of dollars. The owner of a card rated six or higher out of 10 could get way more money.

In 2022, a mint condition 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card, exactly the same as Smiths, sold for $12.6 million U.S. It was the most ever paid for sports memorabilia.

Smith, 70, is working with Miller and Miller Auctions Ltd. to auction off five items including both the Mantle card and a 1966 Bobby Orr rookie card. The two cards have a combined estimated value of between $25,000 and $35,000.

How a sports card is graded

A number of factors are considered when rating a memorabilia card.

"How many scratches or indentations are there? Are the corners bent and are there any creases in the card?  Like even the production of the card," said Smith.

"Is the photo of the player centred in the card? Sometimes you'll see certain cards that are like a frame and the frame isn't centred in the card."

Smith says the antique cards used to be rated directly through a California company PSA Collectibles Authentication and Grading Service. But now it can be done with the help of Miller and Miller Auctions new sports card and memorabilia division.

Ben Pernfuss is the consignment director who is leading the online auction of sports memorabilia cards, which closes at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

"I look at your collection and decide based on value and condition whether I think the cards are worthy to be graded. And then we handle that process," Pernfuss said.

"We work through a Canadian representative to get the cards graded through PSA. We handle that process from start to finish. And then the person who gives us the cards just pays that cost out of what the card sells for at the end of the day."

Time to sell

Smith has five items for auction this week, with the Mantle and Orr cards being the most significant. 

Smith figures he owns between 600 and 1,000 cards. The hobby started at a young age thanks to the influence of his older brothers and with the help of his parents who owned a convenience store in Brantford.

Of the cards he owns, "50 per cent of mine are hockey, 35 per cent are baseball and 15 per cent are other. I'm selling some comic book-type cards," said Smith.

"Like I have one they call the original Batman rookie card. It's a card of Batman, the first one ever made. And I also have a set of cards that were from our TV western shows that are from the 1950s."

Smith says he plans to eventually sell the remainder of his collection and he advises anyone who has sports memorabilia to take care of it.

"If you own cards or any kind of memorabilia, keep it in as good of shape as possible," Smith said.