GREAT 1909 T206 TY COBB BAT ON SHOULDER PSA 6 FOR SALE!!

T206 Ty Cobb Bat on Shoulder PSA 6 

FOR SALE!!!

Currently for sale is a beautiful t206 Ty Cobb PSA 6!!! This card is beautiful!!!



To purchase this card, feel free to see our website at WhereTheyAint.com

Great Investments in Vintage Baseball Cards

As originally published at http://www.tcbusinessnews.com

Jeff Mugerian had a decision to make. Should he sink $5,000 into a mutual fund or put his money where his heart is: Baseball cards?

Mugerian, a local Traverse City business owner, took a hard look at the nearly perfect 1934 Goudey baseball card of Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean. It was graded 8 by a professional grading service on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being gem mint.“I know there aren’t many of these cards in this condition, especially of players like Dizzy Dean,” said Mugerian. “I have bought, sold and traded baseball cards for years, so I know more about these values than I do about mutual funds.”

So Mugerian made the purchase and put the card away as an investment.Good move?Traverse City broker Larry Avery, who works for Edward Jones, thinks so.“Over time, a diversified portfolio will outperform the portfolio overweighed in one area,” he said. “The most successful mutual fund companies have the best global research. In other words, they do their homework on the companies they invest in. Knowing the market for baseball cards or other memorabilia isn’t any different. Whether it is a stock, a bond or a mutual fund, a quality investment is just that.”

The key is doing your homework, just as you would in any other investment, according to a man who makes his living buying and selling sports memorabilia.“I think investing in old sports memorabilia has its place in a portfolio,” said Traverse City’s Chris Porter, who works for Mastro Auctions, Inc. near Chicago. “But it’s not as simple as just putting down your money. You have to invest some energy and time into what you’re doing.”

The 42-year-old Porter got his accounting degree from Michigan State, worked in that business for 10 years, then decided to get out and pursue his hobby as a business. He moved to Traverse City with Superior Sportscards, then worked for Leland’s out of New York and now Mastro’s the last three years, all while remaining in Traverse City with his family.“My job is to acquire cards and memorabilia for our Mastro auctions,” he said. “So I see a lot of great items and big money change hands.“For those people thinking about investing in baseball cards, the one thing I absolutely believe in is the use of grading services,” he said. “Don’t buy an ungraded card for investment purposes. I think a high-grade card, especially of stars from the Depression Era, are a great investment right now. They are underpriced.”

He is referring to cards like Mugerian purchased from the 1930s, a Goudey gum card. During the 1930s and ’40s, other companies like Diamond Star, Play Ball and DeLongs produced cards. Before that, tobacco cards were produced at the turn of the century and into the 1920s. Bowman baseball began producing cards in 1948 and then Topps, which still produces cards today, began production in 1952 and knocked Bowman out of business after 1955.“There are still people alive who collected cards in the 1930s and ’40s,” said Porter.

“To them, the players from that era were tough, good guys – not the spoiled brats they read about today. There are still collections of those cards out there.”Porter’s job is to uncover them and bring them to the open market.“Baseball cards can go through price fluctuations like anything else,” he said. “Some values will hit a plateau, go flat, then spike up again. But star cards that have high professional grades have never had an extended period of loss of value.”Mugerian likes the idea of investing in quality baseball cards and sports memorabilia.“I think investing in anything that is in demand, vintage and in great condition is a wise idea,” he said.

“With the stock market, it’s always possible in this economy that your money will erode or disappear. With sports memorabilia, there are fewer collectors in a bad economy, but the collectors will never simply vanish and you will always still be physically holding your investments in hand.”Mugerian believes his return on investment is well worth the risk.“Not only do I see high-end stuff hold its value, but the rate of return can be astronomical,” he said.

“I remember sitting in a hotel ballroom in New York City during a Leland’s auction. A particular baseball was up for sale and the auction house was estimating a $5,000 to $10,000 price. What Leland’s didn’t know was that two heavy hitters were planning on owning this baseball, including actor Charlie Sheen. After many minutes of spirited bidding, the ball sold for $105,000. With quality vintage items, the sky can be the limit.”But Mugerian, who started collecting cards in 1975, echoes Porter’s assessment that people who do their homework have the best shot at making money with their baseball card investments.

“That’s not to say that someone who doesn’t follow the hobby can’t make a buck,” he said. “But when you are enjoying what you are learning about, I think you are more astute. The key is to educate yourself.”

History Behind the Holy Grail of Baseball Cards

As previously published on honus-wagner.org

The Honus Wagner T206 is considered by collectors to be the "Holy Grail" or "Mona Lisa" of all baseball cards. There are only 50 to 60 believed to be in existence and the card has broken a number of records including:- First baseball card to be professional graded by the PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator). The card shown on the left is marked #00000001- First baseball card to sell for over $1 million- Highest priced baseball card available, currently valued at $2.8 millionHere is a history as to how the Honus Wagner T206 PSA 8 came to be worth so much money.

T206 Wagner PSA 8 Price History:

1930: $50
1985: $25,000
1987: $110,000
1991: $451,000
1995: $500,000
1996: $641,500
2000: $1,265,000
Feb 2007: $2.35 Mil
Sept 2007: $2.80 Mil

1930s:

In the 1930s, according to baseball card catalogues, the Honus Wagner T206 cards were listed at a value of $50. Other T206 cards were valued at 35 cents making the Wagners a premium. Nobody, however, could have predicted that the card would come to be worth millions over 70 years later.

Alan Ray and Bill Mastro:

The Honus Wagner T206 made its first appearance in the modern world of sports card collecting in 1985 when Alan Ray, a small time card collector, went to see Bob Sevchuk who owned a New York based sports memorabilia store where Ray was a regular customer.Ray was hoping to sell his Honus Wagner T206 for $25,000 to Sevchuk. Bill Mastro, another sports memorabilia store owner and future founder of Mastro Auctions, caught wind of the card's availability and expressed an interest in buying it. He drove to Sevchuk's store and agreed to buy the card from Ray but only if he threw in the other 50 to 75 T206's that Ray had brought along as well. Ray made the deal, later saying "I had a money situation. I had to sell the card"The origins of the card still remain a mystery and have never been disclosed. Ray has only said in 2001 that he received the card from a relative, whose name he did not divulge.

Jim Copeland:

In 1987, Mastro contacted Jim Copeland, a sporting goods chain owner in California, and sold him the card for $110,000, realizing a $85,000 profit in under two years. "I called from the airport in California," Mastro says, "and ordered a Mercedes Benz."The sale sparked a renewed interest in baseball card collecting and created an incentive for people to find and sell their cards from the T206 series.

Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall:

In 1991, Copeland decided that he wanted to sell his collection of 873 pieces in a single sale. He contacted Mastro to help him sell the card. Mastro contacted Sotheby's, one of the most well known auction house in the world, to arrange the sale. Over 800 collectors showed up and the Honus Wagner T206 was expected to go for $114,000 according to pre-auction estimates.Within minutes of opening the card soared past $228,000, double the original pre-auction estimate. There were three bidders for the card: Mike Gidwitz, Mark Friedland, and an unknown phone bidder. Gidwitz dropped out when the price hit $300,000. Friedland pursued and found that with each successive price increase he made, the anonymous phone bidder would further raise $5,000 or $10,000. Friedland finally called it off when the price hit $410,000. Sotheby's took at 10% buyer's premium on the value of the card so the final sales price was $451,000.

It was later discovered that the anonymous phone bidder was none other than NHL hockey great Wayne Gretzky who bid on the card with the financial support of Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall. Mastro continued to work for Sotheby's for the next 5 years to facilitate the sale of expensive sports memorabilia and thereby establishing himself as the expert in the industry.Gretzky, not known at the time for being a card collector, thought it would make a good investment and that "the market would remain strong. Still, my dad told me I was an idiot for paying $450,000 for a baseball card."

According to his co-owner McNall, "If you buy something that is absolutely the best in the world, you'd be okay because there is always another buyer for something at the top end."The record-setting purchase made headlines and the card quickly became known as the "Gretzky T206 Wagner." To validate its authenticity, the Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA) chose the card to be the first that it would grade. The card received a PSA 8 - NM-MT (near mind to mint), the highest grade so far awarded to a Honus Wagner T206 baseball card. PSA President David Hall called it "superb" and a "fantastic card in every way."

Wal-Mart and Patricia Gibbs:

Shortly after the PSA graded the Honus Wagner T206, Bruce McNall became the subject of a federal investigation for fraud. He was later charged in 1994 for defrauding 6 banks of more than $236 million. With his partner off to a start a 70 month prison sentence, Gretzky decided to buy him out for his share and put the card back on the auction block.In 1995, the Honus Wagner T206 was sold to Wal-Mart and Treat Entertainment for $500,000. The companies wanted to use the card as the top prize in a promotional campaign to raise awareness about the baseball card products that Wal-Mart was selling. As part of the contest, the card traveled all across the United States and on February 24th, 1996, the 122nd anniversary of Honus Wagner's birthday, the T206 prize winner was chosen in a random draw made by Brooks Robinson on an episode of CNN's Larry King Weekend. The winner was Patricia Gibbs, a postal worker from Florida.Gibbs could not afford the taxes on the Honus Wagner T206 so she put it up for auction with Christie's, another New York auction house. Wal-Mart benefited heavily from the exposure and sold more than 30 million packs of baseball cards in a matter of months.

Michael Gidwitz:

The Honus Wagner T206 went to auction in 1996 and the top bidder was a familiar name, Michael Gidwitz, one of the men who battled Wayne Gretzky for the card in 1991 and lost. Bill Mastro was also bidding for the card but lost out this time to Gidwitz. According to Mastro, "No one ever wants to separate themselves from the crown jewel of the hobby."Gidwitz, a Chicago based collector, had to pay a significant premium over the $451,000 1991 price tag. He ended up spending $641,500 to acquire the card in 1996.

Brian Seigel, Anonymous, Anonymous:

After owning the Honus Wagner T206 for four years, Gidwitz decided it was time to sell. Instead of approaching a brand name auction house, he used technology to his advantage and made a deal with the largest online auction company in the world: eBay.

Gidwitz partnered with Robert Edwards Auctions, a division of MastroNet, to create a 10 day auction for the card. Prospective bidders had to wire a $100,000 deposit to iEscrow.com to be pre-approved to enter the auction. According to Robert Lifson, director of Robert Edwards Auctions, "I was thinking how could I leverage the publicity value of this card. I thought it would be really something if I approached eBay with this idea."

On July 15th of 2000 the Honus Wagner T206 was sold on eBay to Brian Seigel, a California collector for a record $1,265,000. This was a the first time that a baseball card had sold for more than $1 million. At the time Seigel said "Some day I'll sell it. I guess when I get tired of it. But this was not a business move. I am a collector."

In February 2007, however, Seigel decided that it was indeed time to move on and the card was sold again, this time to an anonymous California buyer via SCP Auctions for $2,350,000. According to SCP President David Kohler, the new owner said "'Let's let the world know and have a news conference, but I don't want my name out there.' We have to respect that."

Finally, on September 6th, 2007 the Honus Wagner T206 it was sold most recently to another anonymous collector for a record $2,800,000. It is rumored that the card will be put on display at a number of upcoming conventions and events.Who the owner is and when the famed card will next go on sale is anyone's guess. Only time will tell how high the price Honus Wagner T206 can go.

October 2008 Update: It was recently revealed that the current owner of the famous Honus Wagner T206 is E.G. "Ken" Kendrick, managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team. Kendrick is a veteran collector and is believed to be creating a sports museum at Chase Field where the card will be put on display.

T206 Wagner Sales Show No Sign of Slowing

As originally published on sportscollectorsdaily.com

The sale of the PSA 1 Honus Wagner card in Robert Edward Auctions' 2009 spring event established yet another bar for the card that every collector would love to own.

Never mind the fact that there are many other vintage cards that are actually more scarce, the Wagner remains the hobby's holy grail. Most of us will have to be happy with a reprint, but we can appreciate...well...the appreciation in recent years.

The economic slowdown hasn't hurt sales of Wagner cards at all--and there has been more than one available. The lower grade Wagner will surely make John Rogers happy. He's the Arkansas collector who plunked down $1.62 million for a PSA 5 copy last summer. The latest information should elevate the value of all Wagner cards.

The REA auction marked the tenth known sale of a Wagner card in just over four years.

Recent Sales Chronology of T206 Wagner Cards

PSA 1 PR-FR $399,500
Robert Edward Auctions/May 2009

SGC 40 VG $791,000
Weiss Auctions/November 2008

PSA 5 EX $1.62 million
Mastro Auctions/August 2008

BVG 1 PR-FR $317,250
Robert Edward Auctions/ April 2008

SGC 10 PR-FR $227,050
Heritage Auctions/April 2008

PSA 8 NM/M $2.8 million
Private Sale/Sept. 2007

PSA 8 NM/MT $2.35 million
Private Sale/February 2007

GAI 3.5 VG $456,057
Mastro Auctions/December 2005

PSA 2 FR $294,337
Memory Lane/December 2006

PSA 2 FR $236,706
Mastro Auctions/April 2005

1915 Cracker Jack Baseball Cards

As originally published on sportscollectorsdaily.com

Cracker Jack and baseball first started going steady over 100 years ago. Collectors have learned that one of the two card sets produced just before World War I is much less taxing to tackle.

They tempt you with history..tantalize you with scarcity and have a 'coolness factor' that's off the charts. The 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jack baseball sets are among the most popular of all time. They're also among the most expensive. But if you're going to collect one of the two, the latter version might be the way to go.

The two sets are nearly identical, sharing the same basic style, size (2 1/4" x 3") and many of the same subjects. There are 176 cards in the 1915 set; up from 144 the year before. The 1914 Cracker Jack cards are tougher to locate, especially in high grade. Putting together even half a set can take years unless you're wealthy enough to find a dealer with a huge stock and buy a large lot at once. Because of the scarcity, many collectors prefer the 1915 Cracker Jacks. Known as E145, the 1915 set can be distinguished from the '14 issue by references on the back to the number of cards in the set. Also, the backs of the 1915 issue are printed in the opposite direction of the picture on the front. The card stock on which the cards were printed is heavier in 1915, making the cards less prone to creasing and wear.

There are several variations among the players who appear in both sets. One popular difference are the cards featuring Christy Mathewson. The 1914 version shows him pitching while the 1915 Matty is a portrait shot.Cards from both sets are pricey, but 1915 Cracker Jack common cards can be found in respectable VG condition for well under $100. Some Hall of Famers in the same grade will run $200-300. Among the most expensive are the Joe Jackson, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Ty Cobb which will often cost $2,000-5000 even in lower grade; Grover Cleveland Alexander, which is rarely found for less than $1000, plus the Tris Speaker and Nap Lajoie. The last 31 cards in the 1915 set are a little more expensive than the first 144. Clark Griffith and Edd Roush (spelled Rousch in the set) highlight the high number run. The 1915 Cracker Jack cards are more plentiful thanks in large part to a company offer that allowed youngsters to send in for a complete set and collector's album. Such an offer wasn't available in 1914.

There was also a significant find of the '15 cards several years ago, which has also kept supply at strong enough levels to keep prices from skyrocketing.Dripping with Hall of Famers and history, the 1915 Cracker Jack set is a worthwhile investment, even if you can only own a small number of the cards that helped America embrace baseball.

Rare T206 Wagner Sells for $791,000!!!

As orginially published on sgccard.com:

A rare T206 Honus Wagner baseball card – one of only a handful of known examples released into circulation in the early 1900s by the American Tobacco Company and often called the Holy Grail of sports collectibles – soared to $791,000 at a three-day multi-estate sale held Nov. 21-23 by Philip Weiss Auctions. The card, graded SGC 40 by Sportscard Guaranty, was the top lot in a sale that grossed about $1.8 million. The card now holds the distinction as the highest price realized for an SGC graded card at public auction.

"The pre-sale estimate was $500,000-$800,000, and it ended up selling toward the high end of that range. What added to its allure was the fact that it was fresh to the market, consigned by the original owner's family and never before offered.

The Honus Wagner card was issued as part of the 1909-1911 T206 series. The cards were inserted into packs of cigarettes as a promotional item. Last year, the highest graded example known to the hobby, and once owned by Wayne Gretzky, sold for $2.8 million.

The auction also featured a collection of original-owner T205 and T206 cards from the same era. The star lot was a highly desirable error card of Ray Demmitt from the same T206 set as the Wagner. The Demmitt card, graded an SGC 50, sold for $7,625. Another coveted sports collectible to sell was a Babe Ruth signed baseball, obtained by the chairman of the American Legion league Shibe Park. It brought $67,800.

Over 1,200 lots came up for bid over the course of the three days, in an array of categories, not just sports items. Nearly 300 people attended the Philip Weiss Auctions' facility, located at #1 Neil Court in Oceanside. Online bidding was strong as over 2,000 registered users submitted their bids via the internet. "There were also numerous phone and absentee bids," Mr. Weiss offered. "It was a very active sale."

1914 & 1915 Cracker Jack Baseball Cards

In 1914 the Cracker Jack Company of Brooklyn and Chicago began inserting baseball cards into its boxes of popcorn and peanut candy. This set (and the one that followed, in 1915) have become one of the iconic sets of the pre WW1 era, and one of the most popular baseball card sets of all time.

The 1914 set was issued as baseball was experiencing a semblance of stability, but that would be short lived. President Taft had thrown out the first pitch a few years earlier (in 1910), giving the sport even more recognition as the National Game, and stars such as Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Shoeless Joe Jackson were either in their primes or near to it. Connie Mack’s Athletics and John McGraw’s Giants were the dominating teams of the era, and the dead ball era was in its golden age.

However, in 1914 a new league began raiding players from the established 2 leagues. While the Federal League would only last 2 seasons, those seasons corresponded exactly with Cracker Jacks offerings, and would be the only cards ever issued picturing Federal League players in uniform. In all, 50 Federal League players are pictured.Comparisons between the 2 sets are natural, since in many ways they are exactly the same. Both feature a player image on a red background, with “Cracker Jack Ball Players” across the top (occasionally bleeding over into the white border) and the player’s name and team affiliation at the bottom.

The ’14 set, however, contain 144 subjects, while the ’15 set adds another 32 players for a total of 176.‘14’s are printed on somewhat thinner paper stock, but both sets are on lighter weight paper (rather than cardboard) than most other issues. If you flip the card over the reverse of the ‘14’s are printed right side up, while the ‘15’s are flipped. The reason for this is that an album was offered with the ‘15’s, and the thinking was that if the cards were pasted in the album the backs should be upside down, so that the card need only be lifted up at the bottom to read the bio on the back.

Cracker Jacks have no white ink in the printing process, so that any areas in the image that are white should match the tone of the borders. This is a critical step in identifying forgeries. As there are few, if any, reprints of ‘14’s, the border matching and the upside down backs (reprints are not printed upside down) are the keys to avoid getting a fake.The ’14 set has an ad on the bottom reverse, stating that it is a series of 144 and either 10 million (cards 1-87) or 15 million (88-144) were issued. The ’15 set has an offer whereby a full set can be obtained via mail in for 100 coupons or 1 coupon and 25 cents. This accounts for a great number of pristine ‘15’s, while ‘14’s are often found stained and in much lower condition.

As stated above, the ’15 set took the first 144 cards of the ’14 and added another 32 cards. However, there are a few exceptions to this. Some players were changed, a few poses were altered, and some players changed teams. Taking this into account, a “master” set of all variations would total 199 different cards, not counting the ad on the back.

The key variations:#48 Harry Lord was replaced by Steve O’Neil in ’15#60 Rollie Zeider had 2 cards in ’14, 60 and 116, with different pictures. #60 was replaced with Oscar Dugey in ’15#62 Jay Cashion in ’14, Willie Mitchell in ’15#88 The big one. 2 players remained in both sets, but with pose changes. The most significant is Christy Mathewson. The ’14 is a pitching pose, the ’15 is a portrait. The ’14 is extremely desirable and is quickly becoming one of the most expensive cards of the era.#93 Derrill Pratt. Pose change, once again throwing to portrait.#99 Another highly desirable player change.

In addition, the following players cards reflected different team affiliations in ’15- 6,7,19,29,38,40,43,47,55,66,92,108,118,121,125,134 Lastly, the ‘14 Bresnahan (#17) comes with and without the number printed on the back.Horizontal cards are the same in both sets (with the exception of Matty) and command a premium over the standard vertical cards. They are:38 (Gandil), 40 (Austin), 43 (Marquard), 44 (Tesreau), 91 (Peckinpaugh),92 (Demaree), 95 (Keating), and 96 (Becker).

The album for the ’15 set consists of little more than an embossed tan cover over black pages. As it is not very desirable they don’t go for a premium- about $400. They were originally offered for 50 coupons or 1 coupon and 10 cents.Care must be taken when acquiring Cracker Jacks, as they are easily doctored. As staining is common they are prime candidates for bleaching, and this has often gone undetected by the major grading companies. Trimming is also common in raw cards.

SMR lists #32 in the ’15 set (Three Finger Brown) as being a very difficult card, which has no evidence to back up that claim. If any card can be considered tougher than others it would probably be Alexander. Jack Barry is also very tough to find well centered, and Frank Owen can be tricky as well.

1909-11 T-206 Tobacco White Border Set

The T206 (T-206) set is one of the most cherished among baseball card collectors. Also known as “The Monster” and the “White Border Set,” the T206 set contains 523 cards and over 30 different variations of card backs. The set also contains the “Holy Grail of Baseball Cards,” the T206 Honus Wagner, which recently sold at an auction for $2.8 million! Also included in this fantastic set are Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Tris Speaker, Christy Mathewson, Mordechai “Three Finger” Brown, “Wee” Willie Keeler, Napoleon Lajoie, and more!!

Among these cards are 389 Major Leaguers and 134 Minor Leaguers. Taking into account the possibilities of over 520 different player poses on the fronts, and 16 different advertisement backs, there are thousands of permutations of cards to complete a "set". There are also multiple cards for the same player in different poses, different uniforms, or even with different teams after being traded (since the set was issued over a period of several years). The cards measure 1-7/16" x 2-5/8" which is considered by many collectors to be the standard tobacco card size.

The card fronts feature a color lithograph of a player surrounded by a white border. A few cards were printed in a horizontal format, but almost all of the 523 cards in the set were oriented vertically. Card backs do not contain any statistics; instead, an advertisement appears for the cigarette brand the card was packaged with. The cards were printed on sheets by one factory, and each brand was allowed to place its ad on the backs. Some of the card backs include: Piedmont, Tolstoi, Sweet Caporal, Cycle, Drum, Old Mill, Polar Bear, Sovereign, Hindu, Lenox, Uzit, El Principe, and even a Ty Cobb version. Additionally, some blank-backed cards have been found.

The Honus Wagner card is the most rare of all. It is estimated that between 50 and 200 of the Wagner cards were ever distributed to the public, and fewer still have survived to the present day. Several theories exist as to why the card is so scarce. One theory is that the printing plate used to create Wagner's card broke early in the production process. Another theory is that there was a copyright dispute between the American Tobacco Company and the artist who created the Wagner lithograph which resulted in a reduced production.

The most commonly accepted theory is that the card was pulled from production because Wagner himself objected to the production of the card, but his motivation is unclear. Reports at the time indicated that Wagner did not wish to associate himself with cigarettes, possibly because he did not want to encourage children to smoke. However, some collectors and historians have pointed out that Wagner, a user of chewing tobacco, allowed his image to appear on cigar boxes and other tobacco-related products prior to 1909 and objected to the card simply because he wanted more financial compensation for the use of his image.

Purchase 1909-11 T206 Cards Here!

World Record Price Paid for "The Card"

World Record Price of $2.8 Million Paid For Famed T206 Honus Wagner Baseball Card

The most famous and valuable trading card in the world is sold for the second time this year through a private transaction conducted by SCP Auctions

Mission Viejo, Calif. (Sept. 6, 2007) – Another Grand Slam for Honus Wagner. The finest known example of the famed T206 Honus Wagner baseball card has found another new home a little more than six months after selling for a then-record shattering price of $2.35 million in February to a California private collector. Renowned sports card and memorabilia auction company SCP Auctions Inc., the firm that handled that transaction and took a minority ownership position in the card, has brokered the latest sale to an anonymous private collector for a record price of $2.8 million.

The legendary T206 Honus Wagner baseball card, previously owned by Wayne Gretzky, and once the top prize in a national contest conducted by Wal-Mart, has long been recognized as the most famous and valuable baseball card in existence. Dubbed “The Holy Grail” or “Mona Lisa” of baseball cards, it has always been a beacon of the red-hot vintage sports collectibles market.

"The T206 Honus Wagner card is an icon, not only in the field of baseball card collecting, but in the larger field of Americana,” said David Kohler, president and CEO of SCP Auctions. “We are privileged to have been involved in the sale of this card, not once but twice.”

The legacy of the T206 Honus Wagner Card dates back to its creation and initial release by the American Tobacco Company in 1909 as part of a series that included more than 500 different baseball player cards. T206 tobacco cards are among the most widely collected, popular and sought after cards among current collectors. To this day however, it is estimated that less than one hundred examples of the T206 Wagner have surfaced. Numerous myths have been perpetuated and debated over the course of the last century, as to the reason for its scarcity. One of the prevailing theories was that Wagner, one of the premier players in the history of baseball, insisted that he be paid by the tobacco company for the use of his image causing the production of his card to be halted. A more common, and well-documented theory is that Wagner simply did not want children to be influenced into buying tobacco products just to get a “picture” of him, and thus forced the early withdrawal of his image on this principle. The volumes that have been written and countless tales that have been spun have made the T206 Wagner card a part of classic American Folklore.

This example, recently sold by SCP Auctions has been graded NM-MT 8 by Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA), the nations foremost third-party card grading service. PSA has authenticated, graded and encapsulated 28 of the known T206 Wagner cards. Of those, only two have earned grades of 4 (VG-EX) or better, three examples earned 3 (VG) status, with the remainder garnering either a 1 or 2 due to substantial wear or significant physical imperfections.