An unusual example of the T206 Honus Wagner baseball card comes to a sports memorabilia auction in New Jersey, US, which begins on April 16.
This is a unique example of the 1909 baseball card, featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates' shortstop, as it contains the date "Oct 16 1909" stamped in purple ink on the reverse.
Just 50 Honus Wagner cards are thought to be in existence. The most expensive specimen is currently the "Gretzky T206 Honus Wagner", bought by Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky in 1991, before being sold for $1.26m in 2000. It last changed hands in 2008 for $2.8m.
The card has an estimate of $300,000, which could well be exceeded considering its unique nature and likely appeal to collectors.
 The most valuable shortstop of all time? |
"This is an incredible card with or without the stamp, but the date stamp gives this card an amazing significance," said the auction house's president Robert Lifson.
"Not only is this the only T206 Honus Wagner card that actually dates itself - which all alone is interesting as the T206 Honus Wagner card was only issued in 1909 - October 16th is the date of the final and deciding game of the 1909 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers."
Sports memorabilia collectors should also take a look at our extensive range of investment-grade collectibles.
The sale will also feature a 1923 Babe Ruth bat that has claims to have been used on the opening day at Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923.
A bat believed to have used by Ruth to hit the first home run at the new stadium, on that opening day, sold for $1.26m at Sotheby's in 2004.
We will bring you more previews of this exciting auction over the coming weeks. The auction ends on May 12.
