Few examples known and those are tucked away in private collections and unlikely to see the light of day anytime soon. This is a newly discovered example that came to us from Canada (same as the next two lots which includes the even more rare matching club membership card). 1.5" w/o maker name but w/union bug back stamp. Considered to be the Holy Grail of Mickey Mantle pinbacks, this button holds the record at auction for any postwar baseball celluloid, set by Hake's in Sept. 2020 when we sold the Paul Muchinsky Collection example for $23,249. The button was available for a very short time by mail only to members of his fan club, which was located at 400 Madison Ave., Suite 906, New York, NY. This was very early in his MLB career which began in 1951 when he joined the New York Yankees. At that time he took over in center field for the living legend, Joe DiMaggio. Widely regarded as the greatest switch-hitter of all-time, Mantle spent his entire 18 year career with the Yankees, finishing with a .298 career batting average average along with 536 home runs and 1,509 RBI's. As one of the core Yankees of the 1950s and 1960s, along with teammates Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford, Mantle led New York to 12 AL pennants and seven World Championships. He was selected as the AL MVP three times and won the Triple Crown in 1956. Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. The front celluloid is very slightly concave. Cello surface has scattered shallow scratches and lt. wear only seen in reflected light. VF. A Mantle trophy piece that is among the most coveted baseball buttons featuring the most collectible player of his generation.