There’s no more valuable baseball card than the T206 Honus Wagner, which holds such value because Wagner was one of the greats and because it’s so rare. Back in 2013 a T206 Honus Wagner sold for $2.1 million. Another sold on Sunday for just $1.1 million, plus the buyer’s premium (20%). The Honus Wagner cards are more than a century old.
ESPN’s excellent Darren Rovell told the story of the Honus Wagner card–much of it legend and hearsay–back when the $2.1 million sale happened. His account includes this gem which, if true, accounts for the rarity: “Legend has it that fewer than 200 cards of the Hall of Fame shortstop were produced because Wagner was not happy with the card’s producer the American Tobacco Company and the smoking message it sent to children. Wagner, however, smoked and endorsed cigars, leading some to believe he was merely upset with not being paid for his image.”
