What took so long? A 1909-11 T206 tobacco Honus Wagner baseball card changed hands this week for $1.2 million. The sale marks a sports collectible’s first transaction of $1 million or more in 2019.
What is most remarkable is the 54% increase in the price of the exact same card over the past five years. The card is in PSA 2 good condition (on a scale of one to ten). “This reflects a long-term steady rise in prices for the most noteworthy card ever created,” David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, told me.
This card commanded $657,250 in a Lelands auction in 2014 and $776,750 through Heritage Auctions in 2016. In 2005, it fetched $236,706 in a Legendary Auction.
Since the day the Wagner was issued by the American Tobacco Company, it has been steeped in mystique. The Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop and eight-time National League batting champion forced the company to halt production because he either objected to smoking or not being reimbursed for the use of his image. About 75 specimens are believed to exist.
The top price ever paid for a baseball card was $3.12 million for the PSA 5 “Jumbo” Wagner which Goldin Auctions sold in 2016. Last year, Heritage auctioned off the second highest card: a mint PSA 9 Mickey Mantle for $2.88 million.
The highest graded Wagner, a PSA 8 (Near Mint to Mint) was trimmed to enhance its appearance and, thus,value by Bill Mastro, a sports memorabilia kingpin, who served five months in federal prison in 2017 for shill bidding. But the so-called “Gretzky Wagner,” once owned by the hockey great, is bullet-proof and even benefits from its notoriety.
Ken Kendrick, the Arizona Diamondbacks owner, bought it through SCP auctions for $2.8 million in 2007, more than twice than what it sold for in 2000, $1,265,000,
Adds Kohler, “Today, it’s appraised for $10 million and he has turned down offers at that number.” No one should be surprised.
