Most collectors will attest that assembling a high-grade 1950s or 1960s Topps set is not a challenging task due to the difficulty in finding sharp examples of the cards themselves; they remain plentiful despite a consistent, almost insatiable level of demand.  The challenge, though lies in finding examples that lack production flaws resulting from Topps' poor quality control.  It seems we write about this in every catalog in one way or another; centering is typically an issue and print flaws like fish-eyes, snow and roller lines plague many of the cards.

Presented here is a stunning example of the key card from the 1961 Topps issue that somehow managed to escape most of the print issues.  This beautiful portrait image of Mickey Mantle, his prolific bat resting on his right shoulder, is a classic image of the era's most popular player.  This example is sharp and clean, centered enough to the left to earn an "OC" qualifier from PSA.  The remaining technical flaws are minimal enough to have resulted in a MINT 9 grade.  For those collectors not distracted by centering, this is a wonderful example of a Mantle that sits at the highest levels of the grading scale.