1962 Topps #553 Jim Coates
About Jim Coates
Another high number, #553 sits in the seventh series of the 1962 set. The line behind it is 1961: 11-5 with a 3.44 ERA, 80 strikeouts and five saves in 43 appearances, 11 of them spot starts. Coates then relieved an ankle-hobbled Whitey Ford in Game 4 of the World Series and threw four innings of one-hit ball to finish a 7-0 shutout and take the save, and New York closed out Cincinnati in five games.
James Alton "Jim" Coates was born August 4, 1932, in Farnham, Virginia, and signed with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1951. He spent seven years in the Yankees farm system, debuted September 21, 1956, and won a bullpen job in New York in 1959. The 6-foot-4 right-hander worked as a reliever and spot starter through 1962, then had stints with the Washington Senators, Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles/California Angels, leaving the majors after 1967 with a 43-22 record, a 4.00 ERA and 396 strikeouts over 247 games. He was a 1960 All-Star, pitching two scoreless innings in the first of that summer's two All-Star Games, and he won back-to-back World Series titles with New York in 1961 and 1962. His most-remembered outing came in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series at Forbes Field: he relieved with the Yankees ahead 7-5 in the eighth, went at a Roberto Clemente chopper instead of covering first so that Bill Virdon scored, then gave up Hal Smith's home run that put Pittsburgh in front 9-7, before Bill Mazeroski ended it in the ninth. His funereal look on the mound earned him the nickname "The Mummy." Coates was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and died November 15, 2019, at age 87.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 374 | 0 | 9 | 127 | 150 | 60 | 19 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 42 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Related cards
Team card: #251 New York Yankees Team
More New York Yankees cards:
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- #48 Ralph Terry
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- #88 Ralph Houk
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- #110 Bill Skowron
- #136 Babe Ruth Special: Babe Joins Yanks
- #137 Babe Ruth Special: Babe and Mgr. Huggins
- #138 Babe Ruth Special: The Famous Slugger
- #139a Hal Reniff
- #139b Hal Reniff
- #139c Babe Ruth Special: Babe Hits 60
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #553 card?
It is card #553 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Coates of the New York Yankees.
Why is #553 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-598) from the seventh print series, distributed last and in the smallest quantity - the toughest cards in the set and home to all 42 short prints and the Rookie Parade.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-03.