'Jumbo Honus Wagner' Baseball Card

by Cesar Tordesillas

'Jumbo Honus Wagner' Baseball Card

A T206 Honus Wagner card was sold for $2.1 million in an online auction, becoming the the highest price paid for a card in a public sale.

Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions, which auctioned the card, said he was not at liberty to disclose identity of the buyer and only went on to descibe the person as someone not within the hobby circle.

The T206 Honus Wagner card, graded Excellent 5 by Professional Sports Authenticator, is known as the "Jumbo Wagner" because its dimensions are 1/16 inches larger than most other T206 Wagner cards. It is part of the series released in 1909 by the American Tobacco Co. for distribution in cigarette packs, a precursor to bubble gum cards.

Dan Good of the the New York specifies that he believes only 50 to 100 copies of the card exist in different variations and it's not said how many of each variation are believed to exist.

For some reason, Wagner's cards were pulled from packaging. Legend persists that Wagner railed against his card being included with cigarettes since he didn't want to encourage children to smoke. But since Wagner smoked and endorsed cigars, he may have also been miffed over his compensation from the American Tobacco Company.

There was also a rumor that the one that sold for the highest price was said to have been trimmed to improve its condition. That card, once owned by hockey star Wayne Gretzky, was sold for $2.8 million in a private sale to Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick in 2007.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has a T206 Honus Wagner baseball cardavailable for public viewing in its museum. A plaque beneath the card reads, "Wagner's fame, the scarcity of the card and the story behind it make this baseball's most famous collectible."

SPORTS

T206 Jumbo Honus Wagner Baseball Card Sells for Millions