'Jumbo' T206  Honus Wagner baseball card sees $2.1m at auction

A 1909 T206 "Jumbo" Honus Wagner baseball card has sold for an outstanding $2.1m as part of Goldin Auctions' April 5 sale.

T206 Honus Wagner
Despite previously advertising gunpowder, Wagner did not want his face to appear in a package of cigarettes



The card is graded PSA EX 5 (MC), placing it within the top three of all known Honus Wagner cards. The "MC" notation refers to its large white borders, which are 1/16 of an inch larger than the standard T206 size.

Of the remaining two cards, one is graded EX 5, while the other - the controversial Gretzky card - is graded NM-MT 8, and sold for $2.8m in 2008 to set the record for a baseball card at auction. However, it is now known to have been trimmed to improve its appearance, following a federal indictment against Mastro Auctions founder, Bill Mastro. This development technically makes the present card the true record holder.

According to auctioneer and baseball card expert Bill Goodwin, there are only 43 T206 Honus Wagner cards that have been graded by a professional grading service.

The card's rarity is thought to be due to the fact that Wagner objected to his portrait being displayed on a card produced by a company that advertises cigarettes. The card never officially went on sale as a result of his objections, though around 200 escaped the cull and made it onto the market.

A unique example of the card, graded VG-2 but featuring a previously unknown datestamp, sold for $550,000 in May 2012.

On April 26, the jersey that Yankees star Reggie Jackson wore when he hit three home runs in the 1977 World Series will sell with SCP Auctions. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter to stay up to date with the latest on sports collecting.


 

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