T206 Honus Wagner Card: The Ultimate Collector's Guide It's the Holy Grail of baseball cards. Note: Please note that this card is not an originally issued card, but rather a Reprint of the Original. One thing is certain, whenever a T206 Honus Wagner is sold, it will make national headlines. [70] Cobb, like Mastro back in the late 1980s, does not divulge the exact details of how he came to own the card. A mangled Honus Wagner baseball card, graded and authenticated by PSA more than 25 years ago and stashed away by a collector ever since, just sold for way more than the average home in America. [4] A different card, named the "Jumbo Wagner", was sold at auction again in 2016 for a record $3.12 million. Free shipping for many products! I am new to this. Kindest regards. [68], Another T206 Wagner card owned by two Cincinnati men was dismissed as a fake by Bill Mastro and PSA president Joe Orlando. FREE shipping Add to Favorites RARE 1992 Honus Wagner "The Flying Dutchman" Framed Lithograph Print by Kelly Russell Studios, Inc. #1595 Cooperstown Collection 5 out of 5 stars (145 . An authentic card is part of the Leopold Morse Goulston Baseball Collection in The New York Public Library's George Arents Collection. On November 4, 2010, the final sale price exceeded the expectations of auctioneers at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions and sold for $262,000 to Doug Walton, a collector and card-shop owner. He didn't like the idea of how it might encourage kids to use tobacco. Ross is the founder of Old Sports Cards and has been collecting sports cards for over 30 years. eBay officials decided to remove the listing the day before the auction was scheduled to begin. [66] The card ultimately sold for $2,105,770.50, including the buyer's premium, a record price for a baseball card in a public auction. Just a short six months later, the card was sold to another anonymous collector for $2.8 million. A slightly-damaged T206 Wagner card surfaced earlier this year when a man left it to the. The front and back of the T206 Honus Wagner being sold by Robert Edward Auctions. Johannes Peter "Honus" "Hans" Wagner Born:February 24, 1874 - Chartiers, PA Died: December 6, 1955 - Carnegie, PA Batted:RH Threw:RH Position:SS Career BA:.328 Managerial Record:1-4 Teams: Louisville Colonels NL (February 24, 1874 - December 6, 1955) Pittsburgh Pirates NL (1900-1916; player-manager: 1917) One particular T206 Honus Wagner owned by John Cobb and Ray Edwards has attracted media controversy over its authenticity. [29] With Sotheby's 10% buyer's premium, the final price of the card came out to $451,000 (equivalent to $897,262 in 2021), nearly four times the pre-auction estimate. The other Piedmont-backed card belongs to a collector from Virginia. The most commonly told account is that Wagner rejected the deal because he did not want young baseball fans to purchase the tobacco packs for his baseball card. But the centering and overall eye appeal of the card are still fantastic. Videos Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! The T206 Honus Wagner card is quite simply in a league of its own and a mere pipe dream for millions of collectors. Rosie It sounds most definitely like a reprint if it has that story on the back. As Connelly pointed out, the collectors chose not to make bids because "[w]hen eBay pulled the card it raised too many questions about its authenticity."[76]. Mastro eventually sold the card to Jim Copeland, a sporting goods magnate, for nearly four times the price he had originally paid. Gibbs could not afford the taxes on the card, so she decided to consign the card to an auction later on. The T206 Honus Wagner card has long been viewed by collectors as the "Mona Lisa" of sports cards. [60], On December 4, 2012, Mastro was indicted on federal fraud charges, and entered a plea of not guilty. That's what happened in August of last year, when one sold at an auction for $6.6 million, setting the record for the most expensive sports card of all time. PSA's population report shows they've graded 34. Robert Edwards Auctions, a division of MastroNet, set up a registration system in which they approved prospective individuals before they actually made bids. To give you an idea, here are four of the most popular cards from the sets and their respective populations (number of them graded) by PSA currently: So, that should give you a good picture of how scarce Wagner's card is relative to others in the set. One such example is known in the industry as the 'Jumbo Wagner' [shown on the right]. I have a 206 Tobacco Card of Honus Wagner, hello i have a honus wagner tobacco card excellent condition how do i find out if its the real deal.it matches every other one from the front but the back of mine is printed in red please reply. For one thing, the Wagner currently for sale was given a grade of VG 3 (on a scale of ten) by the authentication agency SGC. There is no easy explanation, either, for the cool-down that much of the market has experienced over the last few months. "[22] However, Wagner chewed tobacco, and he had previously appeared in advertisements for many tobacco products, including a cigar baseball trading card in 1899 and a newspaper ad for Murad cigarettes during the 1909 World Series. Of course the famous Wagner T206 card has also added to the legend of "The Flying Dutchman." [47] The two companies intended to use the card as the grand prize in a promotional contest. Although not quite as valuable as the previously mentioned Gretzky and Jumbo Wagners, this card is still impressively expensive considering even in poor condition it has sold for six figures! Sports Card Guaranty's population report shows they've graded 10. Nor is Wagner considered the greatest player ever. He tried to avoid answering any questions regarding the matter but, in a 2001 interview, claimed to have received it from a relative, whose name he did not disclose. This story has been shared 240,292 times. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates. [83] It is currently on display in the Rally Rd Showroom in the Soho section of New York City. An owner of a Long Island sports memorabilia store announced that a man named Alan Ray was selling his 1909 T206 Wagner for $25,000. It sold for $262,000 despite being in poor condition. [38] Inside the memorabilia community, there was speculation that the card had been cut from a printing sheet during the deal made with Mastro. Collectibles marketplace Goldin announced on Thursday that a T-206 Honus Wagner has sold in a private sale for $7.25 million, a record amount for a sports card. After years of refusing to have the card graded, the owners agreed to have the card examined by a fringe grading service, Card Collector Services, who also ruled that the card was simply a well-produced reprint. Less than six months later, the card was sold to another anonymous collector for $2.8 million. The front of all T206 series cards, including the Wagner card, displayed a lithograph of the player[15] created by a multi-stage printing process in which a number of colors were printed on top of each other to create a lithograph with the appropriate design. Perhaps, the most famous is the Gretzky T206 Honus Wagner. No matter what condition the card it is in, it should sell for at least six figures! The Trout and the Mantle were just two in a slew of record or notable sales that also included a $5.2 million LeBron James card (which set a mark in April for a basketball card) and a $3.75 million Wayne Gretzky card (in June, a new peak for a hockey card). Elected to the Hall of Fame in its inaugural year, Wagner was truly one of the greats. Produced by the American Tobacco Company for its T206 series of baseball cards between 1909 and 1911, the Wagner has reached such mythical proportions that it is often simply called The Card. REA launched the online auction on July 23, with bidding scheduled to conclude on August 15. Mastro has told colleagues in the memorabilia circuit that he purchased the card from a printer, which was not Ray's profession. But nearly everyone agrees: The truly high-end cards will continue to rocket up, insulated from any broader stabilization or downturn. [88], In April 2013, Robert Edward Auctions was scheduled to begin an auction of a T206 Honus Wagner that was once owned by actor Charlie Sheen. [74], A few months after the sale, Edwards asked Connelly if he would accept the card for his auction. Copperfield had Gretzky sign a reprint of the card, then proceeded to tear the card into four pieces, after which he restored it and magically removed the signature. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1987 Hygrade All-Time Greats Red Back Honus Wagner T-206 - GD/VG at the best online prices at eBay! [77], An authentic card is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.[78]. A handful of other T206 Honus Wagner baseball cards have surfaced in recent years, some real and some not. PSA is considered to be the benchmark in the vintage card grading industry so collectors put heavy premiums on their graded cards. The next year, a Florida postal worker won the card and auctioned it at Christie's auction house for $640,000. By the time Wagner, a legendary Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, was selected as one of five members of the Baseball Hall of Fames inaugural class in 1936, the cards value was being recognized. - Goldin Auctions", "Honus Wagner baseball card sells privately for $1.2 million", "ESPN: Rare Honus Wagner card sells for record $6.6M", "Half of rare Honus Wagner baseball card auctioned for nearly $500,000", "Holy Grail of baseball cards a Honus Wagner T-206 sells for record $7.25 million", The T206 Collection The Player & Their Stories, Baseball's Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories, Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series home run, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=T206_Honus_Wagner&oldid=1151100663, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Upload your video Looking for specific info? It's rounded corners, creasing, and what looks to be a pinhole above his head are definite causes to be graded in poor condition. [28], In 1991, National Hockey League player Wayne Gretzky purchased a mint condition 1909 T206 Honus Wager baseball card, with a Piedmont cigarette brand back, at a Sotheby's auction. The expert ruled that the "paper stock was consistent with the time that card would have been made. The T206 Honus Wagner card is not the oldest card ever. [87] Historical price increases and the state of the sports collectible market contributed to projections that the auction could set a new overall price record for the sale of a T206 Honus Wagner. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2008-2023 The Cardboard Connection. The figure eclipsed the $6.606 million fetched for another T-206 Wagner almost a year ago to the day. The card was printed with the original 1909 orange color (#179), and also in blue (#307) and red (#456). The Wagner card is something that does have incredible crossover appeal; there are people that own Wagners that own no other sports cards, Dwyer says, adding: It may go to a person that just understands and appreciates its rarity and its significance and its place in the hobby, like the Inverted Jennys place in stamps or a $20 gold coin or Action No. Then, if a second dealer is an option, thats a good way to compare. Mile High Card Company will offer what's known as the "All-Star Caf Wagner" in its next catalog auction, set to open Thursday, March 10. While industry experts cite various factorsamong them, a rediscovery of the hobby during Covid-19 lockdowns, buzz from social media influencers, uncertainty about the stock market and a building interest in alternative assets combined with a lack of financial regulations in the card spacethere is no one explanation for the sharp rise in the market. In 2010, a rare Honus Wagner was found in a box left by the brother of Sister Virginia Muller, who left all her possessions to the Baltimore-based School Sisters of Notre Dame. And in this guide well dive into what makes this card so special, why its so valuable, and what youll have to do to acquire one. So this Wagner is a collectible that really does transcend the hobby.. He also loves to write about the hobby and has written for Beckett, Topps, SABR and of course, this website. He hit .328 for his career in 2,794 games. In April 2011, that anonymous purchaser was revealed to be Ken Kendrick, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Why? Card is in Near Mint to Mint condition. Hughes admitted to knowing that the card had been altered when he graded it. . Lifson was skeptical, but he took Mastro's word and accepted the deal, successfully selling this other Wagner card to New Jersey businessman Barry Halper for $30,000. Authentic versions have a tobacco ad on the back. Turns out, half a Honus is still pretty valuable. Produced by the American Tobacco Company for its T206 series of baseball cards between 1909 and 1911, the Wagner has reached such mythical proportions that it is often simply called The Card. A SCG 3 grade of the famous T206 Honus Wagner card is set to hit the open market and could set a new record for sports cards. You can learn more about this particular card here. These individuals had to wire a $100,000 deposit to iEscrow.com in order to be pre-approved to make bids for the card. Gretzky resold the card four years later to Walmart and a company called Treat Entertainment for $500,000. "The T-206 is one of the reasons I do what I do," Goldin concluded. "[14] These discrepancies were taken advantage of by so-called "card doctors", who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the appearance of the card. My name is jason and I just have found the holy grail of cardsthe 1909 t206 bonus Wagner sheet corporal. The T206 Honus Wagner card is quite simply in a league of its own and a mere pipe dream for millions of collectors. The T206 Honus Wagner card is one of the most valuable cards in the hobby. Written by Michael O'Keeffe of the New York Daily News, The Card provides a detailed account of the origins of the T206 Honus Wagner baseball card, its rise to hobby prominence, and some of the less-than-noble events surrounding the card's provenance in the last several years. Additionally, he stated that he was not comfortable with the print process exhibited on the card's front. There was also a private sale in June of a 1914 Babe Ruth card at a price that was said to beat $5.2 million but was not publicly disclosed. (Wagner demanded that the ATC stop printing his image, either because he and the company couldnt agree on his compensation or because, in the more apocryphal version of the story, he didnt want to encourage children to buy cigarettes and pick up a bad habit.)