“I have some friends from New York who came out and saw the exhibit this summer and they told me, ‘You can’t believe what you missed.’” “This is a bonus,” Zander said, as a Denver cop stood nearby logging the first shift of 24-hour security. He had brought his daughter from Longmont to do some research at the museum’s library, and then - unaware that the Mantle card would reappear - smiled at his good fortune.
Minutes after the card was secured in its UV-ray protected enclosure, Chuck Zander became the first customer to lay eyes on the image of Mantle, bat on shoulder, gazing away from the camera. Marshall Fogel, right, confers with the armed security guard who transported his valuable 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card from its bank vault to the History Colorado museum on Wednesday morning in Denver. It appeared during a three-day stretch in July and then took up residence through Sunday. There, at the entrance to the museum’s “Play Ball!” exhibit, the card sat ready to receive visitors for its second - and final - brief run as part of a hugely popular display that has been open since April. The guard stepped into a freight elevator that took him to the museum’s fourth floor, where a preparator then placed the image of the New York Yankee great in a clear protective case that, in a previous exhibit, guarded the Jefferson Bible. Chilly temperatures lurked in the morning shadows but a brilliant December sun beamed intimations of spring training as the armored vehicle pulled up to the downtown Denver delivery entrance of the History Colorado Center Wednesday morning.Īn armed guard emerged lugging a case containing roughly 9 square inches of cardboard - a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card - in such mint condition that its estimated value on the memorabilia market runs as high as $10 million.