Mickey Mantle Archive
Watch
GUEST:
I have a collection of Mickey Mantle memorabilia. He grew up in a small town in Commerce, Oklahoma, which is about ten miles from my hometown of Baxter Springs, Kansas. And he actually played Whiz Kid Little League ball in Baxter Spring. Baxter likes to claim him as much as Commerce, Oklahoma, does. And after he became a Yankee, he also was the vice president for Southwest Chat Company in Baxter Springs, which was owned by Mr. Harold Youngman. Mr. Youngman was kind of his advisor/mentor in a way, and my father-in-law worked for Mr. Youngman as well and was an officer of the company. So Mickey was very generous to always share souvenirs, memorabilia. He would take balls to training camp and have the team sign them and bring them back, and so he was very generous with Mr. Youngman and my father-in-law as well.
APPRAISER:
Tell me about the lighter we have here.
GUEST:
This was a Zippo lighter that Mr. Youngman gave out to customers as well as other business associates.
APPRAISER:
Used as a promotional piece, and what's nice about this is it has the Mickey Mantle facsimile signature right across the front, and then it's also mint in the original box. This was a giveaway item that was never used. This is a 1963 Yankees team signed ball, and we have a Mickey Mantle signature here on the sweet spot. And what can you tell me about the photograph?
GUEST:
My husband just knows that there were about ten copies of this card that were all hand-signed by Mickey, and we just decided to frame one of them to put up on the wall, but we have some other copies as well.
APPRAISER:
This is a very early image of Mantle, and it is signed, "Best Wishes, Mickey Mantle." Quite different than how his signature was 30 or 40 years later. And that one is in excellent condition, nice, strong signature. And then tell me about the hat.
GUEST:
I just know that he supposedly wore it during his time with the New York Yankees. How many games, I have no idea.
APPRAISER:
Any idea of the year, approximately?
GUEST:
No, I have no idea. I do know that the late 1950s and early '60s was when he had the most relationship with Mr. Youngman.
APPRAISER:
Mickey was known to get a lot of use out of his hats, so when we do see his hats, they tend to show quite a bit of use. Personal items do command a premium, often. We'll start with the Zippo lighter here. It's a great promotional piece with Mickey Mantle associated with the company. It is mint in the box, as we said. And this one we would expect to sell for, at auction, between $100 and $200. The baseball with Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra on the sweet spot has some signatures that are slightly faded, but not bad. That one at auction, I would expect it to sell for between $300 and $500.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The photo, I would expect that to sell at auction for between $500 and $1,000. Now lastly, the hat. Very hard to find Mickey Mantle game-used hats. At auction, we would expect it to sell for between $8,000 and $10,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh. I'm shocked. Truly shocked. That's amazing.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
