Over the past several years, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle has risen exponentially in value and is clearly the most important postwar trading card.  Near Mint to Mint examples have reached seven figures at auction, and even POOR examples routinely top $25,000.  The card is one of the hobby's most desirable and widely-recognized cards, even non collectors recognizing its importance.  This example is a collector-grade specimen, well-worn with visible surface, edge and corner wear.  Despite the wear, the image appears remarkably clean, the card's additional flaws including a small crease at the upper-left corner and a more pronounced surface abrasion at the very top near Mantle's cap.  The primary condition issue relates to a tiny spot at the upper-right border, measuring a couple of millimeters in length, where what appears to be a surface abrasion has actually resulted in paper loss.  A well-intentioned collector filled in the black border line with what is likely thin, black marker, and added a tiny bit of blue ink to fill in the blue sky background, not much wider than the tip of a pen.  The result is a grade of AUTHENTIC - ALTERED assessed by PSA.  Despite the grade, however, the card presents very well, likely in the FR range irrespective of the added color.  Centering is far above average for the card, an extremely attractive, "affordable" example.