A Mickey Mantle baseball card given away free in a pack of 1950s dog food has sold for $23,600.

The reason? It’s unique. It’s believed to be the sole remaining example of the Mascot Dog Food Mickey Mantle card.

One of just three known Mascot Dog Food cards 

It was only discovered in 2017 and is one of just three baseball cards still existing from the defunct Philadelphia dog food company.

One of those three – a Yogi Berra – sold for $4,720 at the same Wheatland Auction Services auction on January 28. The other features Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Robin Robert. It has never been sold.

Both the Mantle and the Berra were unearthed in an old photo album at an Adamstown, Pennsylvania flea market by an unknown buyer. He or she sold them to an antiques dealer who sold them on to this weekend’s consignor (a man known only as Chuck W) for less than $1,000, reports Lancaster Online.

When Chuck W purchased the pair, he was aware he was taking a risk. The cards had yet to be declared genuine (authentication firm Beckett now has).

"Finding a one-of-a-kind sports card is a rarity in-itself. But it’s even more exciting when it happens to be two iconic players–Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra,” said Stacey Whisman, the auction house’s owner.

Why did Mantle’s sell for $18,880 more than Berra’s? That’s all down to the Commerce Comet’s greater cachet; he was the name of baseball in the 50s - sorry Yogi fans.

Examples of Mantle’s celebrated 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card have previously surpassed $1 million.

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