The 1952 Bowman Willie Mays #218 is one of the most beautiful and important postwar baseball cards. In PSA 9 condition, it’s incredibly rare, with just six existing and no 10s.
Now, two of them could be available at the same time.
Mile High Card Company recently shared via Instagram that serial number 06012328 has been consigned to one of their upcoming auctions.
Meanwhile, Memory Lane Inc. has serial number 16742867 listed in their I Own It Now Marketplace.
This kind of head-to-head availability is highly unusual for a card this scarce, and it raises an interesting question: Could this simultaneous exposure actually suppress the final price?
The last public sale of a PSA 9 example I found was in February 2022, when Heritage Auctions sold serial number 21794569 for $444,000.
For reference, I’ve also found a photo of a fourth copy: serial number 12279113 that Memory Lane Inc sold for $46k in August 2017. With four of the six cards documented visually, collectors are getting a better look at how these grails differ in eye appeal.
But back to the showdown: With one card heading to auction at Mile High and the other sitting in Memory Lane’s fixed-price marketplace, it creates a unique dynamic. Private negotiations behind the scenes for the Memory Lane copy could suppress aggressive bidding at auction. Or, if bidding heats up, it might spark a run on the Memory Lane card as well. Either way, it’s a rare moment for collectors to see two elite examples of this iconic card available at once.
Happy collecting!
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