If this vintage 1953 Mantle signature was on a Bowman card, you could pay off the mortgage on Buckingham Palace. As it is, the early Mantle marker on a government postcard sent to Jim Davidson and postmarked July 13, 1953 from New York, NY is of a special breed, one of the few examples around reflecting Mick’s still-developing signature that would become obsolete once his over-stylized “M’s” became boilerplate. Here, there’s nothing stylish, just the scrawl of a country boy struggling to live up to his hype. Signature in black ink is 9/10 while the postcard is EX+ with specks of dirt mainly on the mailing side.