Uni Expert Believes Mickey Mantle Rookie Jersey Donated to HOF is a Forgery. From Relic to Replica?

The Baseball Hall of Fame’s admission earlier this month that the “Shoeless Joe” Jackson jersey in their collection was not authentic sent shock waves through the high-end baseball memorabilia market.  The jersey was originally part of the Barry Halper Collection and, as a result of Cooperstown’s findings, many other Halper items in private collections are being re-evaluated.  In an interview this week with Haulsofshame.com, the top uniform evaluator in the country, Dave Grob, has also revealed that Halper’s 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie jersey, which was donated to the Hall of Fame in 1998, is likely a forgery.

Back in 1996, baseball collector Barry Halper invited the late sportscaster George Michael to interview him amongst his baseball treasures on display in his home in Livingston, NJ. In one filmed interview segment about Halper’s Hall of Famer uniform collection, Michael said to the then Yankee partner, “You know, some people would want to detract from you and say, oh, come on, it can’t all be real.”