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With more than 23 days left in the auction, bidding for a very rare 1909 T206 Honus Wagner baseball card has already surpassed $3 million. It is expected that the final bidding price could reach as high as $6 million, or more.
The baseball card known as the “Connecticut Wagner” due to it first appearing at a Connecticut card show in 1985, has been graded a PSA PR-FR 1 and features a Sweet Caporal 150 Subjects/Factory 30 ad back. It is one of approximately 60 known T206 Wagner cards that are known to exist.
Bidding for the T206 Honus Wagner card began at $2 million on Wednesday through Goldin’s Spring Vintage Auction. By the end of the first hour it was up for auction, the top bid had reached more than $3.1 million. It currently sits at $3,294,105 including the Buyer’s Premium (a 22% fee assessed to the winning bidder).
“North of $6 million would be great for the hobby,” Ken Goldin, founder of the auction house, told The Athletic. “Somewhere in mid-seven figures. I view this card as an above-average ‘1’ for the color and the fact that the face is really undisturbed where a lot are very disturbed. And the back is very clean.”
According to the auction house, “the same Wagner card has NEVER sold for less than its previous public sale.”
For example, the first T206 Wagner sold for $25,000 at a Long Island New York sports card shop in 1985, is now “arguably now worth in excess of $50 million,” Goldin’s claims.
Interestingly, another rare T206 Honus Wagner card sold for $1.98 million just last month. That particular card first sold for $63,939.06 in 2003.
So why is the T206 Honus Wagner card so coveted by collectors? The first reason is its rarity. Honus Wagner did not want his picture to be used is the set of cards produced by the American Tobacco Company because he wanted no part in promoting cigarettes to children. So very few of the cards were ever made.
Another reason is, as previously mentioned, the fact has never sold for less than the purchase amount.
“I looked at every type of transaction I could think of in gold, precious metals, art, stocks,” Goldin said. “The only example I can find where the exact same item (meaning the same Wagner card) sold for more every time is a T206 Wagner, and it’s done that in every grade.”
The most money ever paid for a T206 Honus Wagner card was $7.25 million in a private sale, also conducted by Goldin. However, the highest price for a baseball card in general was $12.6 million for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card – the most money ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia sold at auction.