It was approaching 2 a.m. on the East Coast and Anthony Giordano was fading.
He'd had a long day on his farm where his two adult sons hosted a fantasy football draft. Giordano was also having a watch party. The clock on his 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, the highest graded Mantle card on the market at 9.5 and the showstopper of Heritage Auctions' Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction, was winding down Saturday night into Sunday morning August 28.
“I couldn't keep my eyes open,” said the 76-year-old Giordano. “I was joking around. I said, ‘The last time I was up that late was on my wedding night.'”
Before he fell asleep, Giordano checked on the price of his card. “I went to bed at $10 million,” Giordano said. “Then my boys called me this morning and told me exactly what it hit.” The final price for Giordano's Mickey Mantle card, with the buyer's premium, was a record $12.6 million.
“I'm excited over the card because we broke three records with this card: the
