This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/11/2019
When you're the greatest sports icon since the immortal Babe Ruth, every company in America looking to boost their sales wants your endorsement. And no one saw their name plastered over as many products as that of New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle. Of course, "The Commerce Comet's" most avid business partner was the Topps Company. After all, it was Mantle that almost singlehandedly brought Topps from a fledging company to national prominence, disposing of Bowman and their stranglehold on the baseball card market. By the time the 1960s rolled around, Topps was the king of the baseball card market and free to explore new streams of revenue with inserts and test issues, some of which became industry standards while others that never got past the initial stages of development. This 7 3/4" circular item is a bit of a mystery but we believe it to be a point-of-sale advertising piece for 1964 Topps coins inserts. There are no identifiers to tie it to Topps but it is formatted in the same style and from the same time period as the 1964 coins. The image of Mantle does not match his pose on the metal coins, but it was common for Topps to make unique promotional pieces. An indentation or two can be seen on the front with some light creasing on the reverse, but as the only example that we've ever seen, it's an amazing find for advanced collectors acquiring all things Mantle!