Locked Up Since 1980s, Trimmed T206 Wagner Now Up for Bid

July 31, 2012 By Editor

Another T206 Honus Wagner has hit the baseball card auction block. However, unless you have a long memory and knew the right person, chances are you haven’t seen this one.

Goodwin and Company is offering a trimmed and creased copy of the hobby’s most famous card, graded SGC Authentic. The auction opened Saturday and the card already has a high bid of over $64,000 without the buyer’s premium that will be added at the end.

The company’s catalog description states that the consignor “acquired this card in the early 1980’s, and since then it has been safely resting on his collector shelf for some 30 years”.

Ungraded when pulled from that shelf, the card was recently encapsulated by SGC, becoming the 44^th T206 Wagner card in the combined population reports of SGC and PSA.

Three of the card’s four borders are missing (two sides and the top). The card also carries a center crease. It does, however, have a pretty solid central appearance with no blemishes or scuffing on the face. It also appears to have never seen any sort of restoration.

In April, Goodwin and Company sold an SGC 40 Wagner for $1.2 million to a man in New Jersey. Poor grade and authentic Wagner cards have been selling anywhere between $188,000 and $357,000 over the last few years.

The auction, which closes August 24, also includes a 1916 Standard Biscuit Babe Ruth rookie card, graded SGC 40. One of only four on either the SGC or PSA pop reports, the Ruth card sits at over $40,000. The familiar image of Ruth as a young Red Sox pitcher was used by several companies as a promotional tool, including the Sporting News, Gimbels and Famous and Barr.

The auction also includes a PSA/DNA 8-graded Babe Ruth single signed baseball.