Honus Wagner Baseball Card Sells for Record $2.1 Million
Published at
iStockphoto(NEW YORK) — The most sought-after and valuable baseball card ever made, the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card, sold for a record-breaking $2.1 million in an online auction on Saturday morning.
The card was being auctioned by Goldin Auctions, who has not released any information about the eventual buyer. He or she spent a total of $2,105,770.50 on the card, including the commission fee.
The last time a Wagner card was offered for public sale was during the financial crisis in 2008, when it sold for $1.62 million. According to Goldin Auctions, the average Wagner card has appreciated 70 percent in value since then.
Wagner was already a baseball legend when the card was released in 1909. Wagner was one of the first five men ever inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, getting an equal number of votes as Babe Ruth.
There are reportedly fewer than 200 T206 Honus Wagner cards. It’s said that there were so few cards made because Wagner objected to the cards, since were made by the American Tobacco Company and being given to children. This is probably untrue, as Wagner was a heavy and public cigar smoker himself, and it’s far more likely he simply wanted to be paid to his image.
This particular card is known as “the jumbo Wagner,” because due to printing inconsistencies, it is slightly larger than other T206 Wagner cards.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio