“For those with cash, here are the top 25 most expensive baseball cards,”…as reported in the October 1993 issue of Sports Cards Magazine.
What really stands out is that there wasn’t a single contemporary or modern card on the list (“Sorry, there are no Frank Thomas or Ken Griffey rookie cards on this list”). However, the author also pointed out there wasn’t even a Ted Williams or a Joe DiMaggio (despite their popularity in the hobby at the time). The “youngest” card was a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle (though only 41 years old at the time), which is like including a card from 1983 on a list today.
I ran across this raw T206 Honus Wagner in Christie’s October 1992 Sports Memorabilia catalog.
I’ve been enjoying tracing T206 Wagner’s sales history lately (number 28 and the Frank Nagy Wagner). Thanks to the Wagner Sales History page and Wagner Gallery on T206Resrouce.com, it’s been made a lot easier. They label this particular example as number 45.
Like I said, Christie’s offered this one raw back in 1992. They provided the following description:
Front depicts Wagner in a color lithograph against a warm orange background with white border, the bottom stating “WAGNER, PITTSBURGH.” The reverse reads “SWEET CAPORAL CIGARETTES, THE STANDARD FOR YEARS” trimmed in red-lined border-2 5/8 x 1 7/16 in.-good to very good.
The T206 Wagner card is the most sought after and avidly pursued collectible card in the hobby today. It has been widely reported that Honus Wagner was vehemently against smoking and therefore requested the withdrawal of his card.However, according to his granddaughter, Ms. Leslie Blair, Wagner objected to the fact that children would have to purchase cigarettes in order to obtain the card; actually, Wanger himself chewed tobacco. To date, fewer than 40 T206 Wagner cards are known to exist.
The expected sales price was $100,000-125,000, but I have yet to confirm what it actually sold for.
The next public sale I have data for is when Heritage Auctions sold the card, now graded Fr 1.5 by PSA, for $2.28M in May 2021. Unfortunately, they didn’t include any information about this Wagner’s provenance.
Goldin then re-sold the card a little over a year later, in October 2022, for $3.72M (a nice 17 month ~$1.5M flip).
Please let me know if you have any more info about Wagner number 45.
I’ve highlighted the history of a few T206 Wagners on the blog. Here’s another, graded 2 by PSA, with an interesting history from raw to Mastro to Memory Lane.
The picture above is from Mastro’s September 2000 catalog; the card sold for $74,918. Here’s the card and full description.
Note the reference to the PSA 8 Wanger I highlighted in a post called Memorabilia Madness.
The T206Resource, which numbers this particular Wagner card as number 28, includes this photo of it in raw form (though it could be a cropped scan of the graded card), so it was likely graded around the time of the Mastro auction.
Update from the original post (based on my note in the comments) later in the day on July 19, 2024: The PSA Flip type (design) with the Collectors Universe hologram on the back didn’t come out until around 1999/2000, no more than a year before the Mastro Auction.
This Wagner was then consigned through Memory Lane, who tried to sell it for $775k via an eBay Buy-it-Now listing in January 2012 before selling it in May 2012 for $654,500 and again in May 2017 for $600,000.
PS, the other T206 Wagner that has been highlighted on the blog is Frank Nagy’s (Wagner 12 on the T206Resource).
If anyone has any more pre-graded historical information about Wagner 28, please let me know.
The hobby changes quickly, but the National Sports Collectors Convention and the popularity of the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner card are two steadfast consistencies. And in 2004, something amazing happened involving them both.
At the 2004 National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, which ran from July 22 to 25, MastroNet Auctions brought together nine 1909 T206 Honus Wagner cards for an incredible display and promotion. Seeing just one or two on any show floor is a big deal today!
The Wagner Reunion
I learned about this incredible reunion from the first edition of Old Cardboard Magazine.
Old Cardboard Magazine Issue #1
In their synopsis of the show, Old Cardboard wrote that the cards came from various collections and were brought together by MastroNet specifically to display at the National.
In researching the Wagner Reunion, one promotion leading up to the show said 12 of the approximately 50 known Wagners would be there; presumably, some collectors decided not to participate.
Mastro gave out an awesome “The Wagner Reunion” poster at the show. The T206 Museum shared this example. If you have one for sale, please get in touch with me.
The Wagner Reunion Poster
At the time, the nine Wagners that MastroNet brought together were graded SGC Authentic, GAI 1.5, PSA 1, PSA 2, PSA 3, PSA 5, PSA 1, PSA 1, and PSA Authentic (trimmed).
What’s more, I’ve read that PSA had the ‘PSA 8’ T206 Wagner displayed at the 2004 show, too. So all together, 10 of the ~47ish known T206 Wagners were in a single room, with a value well over $20M today.
It would be cool if a major auction house would do something similar, like trying to bring together the most extensive collection of 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle or 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth cards. Until then, we can look back at the T206 Wagner Reunion as a hobby event that likely won’t be duplicated again; happy collecting!
I ran across this tidbit about the “PSA-8” graded McNall/Gretzky T-206 Honus Wagner in Topps Magazine’s 6th Edition (Spring 1991). Madness indeed!
The article explains that the Piedmont-backed T206 Honus Wagner achieved the highest price ever (at the time) for a single baseball card, $410k (plus $41k auction fee) during Sotheby’s auction of The Copeland Collection of Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia in March 1991.
The card’s history is quite infamous, but I have nothing unique to add to that part of the story; check out Wikipedia or the net54 message boards for more info. However, I’m not sure many people today have seen the auction description, including a photo of the back of the raw, pre-graded card.
