T206

The Top 25 Most Expensive Baseball Cards In 1993

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“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.

T206 1910 White Border Near Complete Set Of 520 Cards

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The expected price of the 520-card T206 White Border near complete set in Sotheby’s Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia auction in 1993 was…$30,000-$40,000.

Here’s the lot’s description:

T206 1910 White Border Set, near complete set of 520 cards (missing the big three, Wagner, Plank, and Magie), a monumental task to put together all 520 cards was accomplished by a collector looking for uniformity of condition throughout the set, only about 70 cards are less than excellent condition, about 20 of those are in definite need of replacing due to creases or excessive wear, approximately 450 cards are excellent or better, the Demmitt, O’Hara and Elberfeld have creases and are only fair condition, Kleinow Boston is near mint to mint, Lungren, Chicago is a strong excellent to mint. Cobb (red) and Cobb (yellow) are excellent, the green Cobb has a hairline crease and is very good to excellent and the Cobb bat off the shoulder is very clean and strong excellent to mint, Smith, Chicago and Boston is excellent to mint, Dahlen, Brooklyn is excellent to mint, and G. Brown Washington is excellent condition, several Southern Leaguers need replacing (about 25), overall the set is excellent condition with numerous cards in excellent to mint condition.

4 Of The 5 PSA Graded T206 Lenox Cigarettes Fred Payne Cards

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Here’s a T206 Lenox Cigarettes Fred Payne card that was offered for sale back in 1993.  

It was a part of Sotheby’s Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia auction catalog from March 1993. They described it as “one of the scarcest backs in exceptional near mint condition” and gave it an estimated final price of $500-600.

I’ve dabbled in T206 collecting in the past, but never very seriously. PSA says the extremely rare backs in the set belong to Drum, Lenox, and Uzit (the Ty Cobb back is the ultra rarity). Looking in their Pop Report, there are just five copies of Fred Payne’s Lenox-backed card: a PSA 5, a PSA 2, a PSA 1, and two graded PSA Authentic. 

I did some research and came across four of them.

PWCC sold the PSA 5 for $5160 in October 2023. It’s the same example that Sotheby’s sold. 

By the way, REA previously sold the PSA 5 for $3900 in the Spring of 2016. They also sold the PSA 1 copy in September 2021 for $2040.

Heritage has sold the nicer authentic copy twice: first, in June 2021, for $1500, and then, in May 2024, for just $630.

Heritage also sold the authentic altered copy for $666 in May 2023.

1068 Assorted T206 White Border Cigarette Cards

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Unfortunately, most of the photos in Sotheby’s Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia auction catalog from March 1993 are B&W, but this group of 1068 assorted T206 White Border Cigarette Cards still looks pretty awesome.

You don’t see lots like these often these days, especially since this one included 124 Hall of Famers. The lot contained various manufacturers, but mostly Piedmont and Sweet Caporal brands. Sotheby’s said no cards were less than Vg, and as a lot, the overall grade would be at least Ex, with more than 200 cards in at least NrMt or better condition. Their estimate was $25-30k.

Memorabilia Madness – Some Background On The PSA 8 T206 Honus Wagner

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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.