T206 Honus Wagner Brings Over $2.1 Million at Auction

A T206 Honus Wagner card became the second $2 million baseball card early Saturday morning when bidding finally closed in Goldin Auctions’ spring catalog sale.  The final price was $2,105,770.  Bidding closed shortly after 2 a.m. EDT.  There was no immediate word on the name of the buyer.

The card, which was purchased in 2008 for $1.62 million, is referred to as the “jumbo” Wagner because it carries a larger than normal white border.  Graded EX 5 by PSA with a ‘miscut’ qualifier because of the size, it attracted significant media attention and continued a cycle of positive increases with each sale of virtually any Wagner T206 card.

There were a couple of bids on the final day but as the auction went into extended bidding, no further action took place. The final bid on the card was nearly $1.9 million.  The auction company’s standard  buyer’s premium was added to calculate the realized price, which came up well short of the record for a Wagner.

In the category of most expensive baseball cards of all-time, the card sold this week still trails the PSA 8 (NM/MT) example that sold for $2.8 million in a private transaction several years ago.  Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick owns that card, which once belonged to hockey icon Wayne Gretzky and former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall.  The ‘8’ carries some controversy over what is likely to be an admission by former Mastro Auctions chief Bill Mastro that the card was trimmed many years ago.  Mastro has pleaded guilty to fraud charges in connection with the Wagner card and bidding practices at his now defunct company.

The last Wagner to sell for more than $1 million was graded ‘40’ by Sportscard Guaranty and sold at auction in April of last year for over $1.23 million.

A PSA 1-graded Wagner will be offered by Robert Edward Auctions later this month.

In all, Goldin’s second auction generated $3.2 million in sales.  In all, more than 30 record prices were paid in the auction, according to Goldin. Other items sold  included:

• LOT #5 – 1933 Goudey #106 Nap Lajoie (SGC NM+ 7.5) – $42,304.50
• LOT #9 – 2009 Alex Rodriguez NY Yankees World Series Ring – $50,398.88
• LOT #476 – 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle Rookie (SGC 92 NM/MT 8.5) – $38,362.50
• LOT #55 – 2001 Derek Jeter Game Used & Signed World Series Bat – $37,486.13
• LOT #2 – Honus Wagner Single Signed Baseball – $35,292.38
• LOT #4 – 1909-11 E90-1 Shoeless Joe Jackson Rookie Card (PSA VG-EX 4) – $34,961.63
• LOT #10 – Thomas Jefferson Signed Act of Congress – $18,109.13
• LOT #18 – 1994 Joe Montana Game Worn KC Chiefs Jersey (vs 49ers) – $17,662.50
• LOT #6 – Norm Van Brocklin Game Worn College All-Stars Uniform – $17,662.50
• LOT #184 – Baseball Signed by 18 Perfect Game Pitchers – $17,220.38
• LOT #131 – 2008 Mariano Rivera Game use Glove – $13,154.63
• LOT #391 – 1923 Babe Ruth W515-1 PSA Gem Mint 10 – $12,510

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About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for over 40 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected].