The School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore are about to receive a little divine love from the Holy Grail of Baseball Cards. A newly discovered T206 Honus Wagner card, left to the convent by the brother of a member of the order when he passed away, will be auctioned off on Nov. 4 in Dallas as part of Heritage Auctions’ upcoming sports memorabilia auction.
The card is estimated to bring $100,000+.
Current bid as of Wednesday afternoon was over $77,000 with the company’s buyer’s premium added.
“The proceeds from the sale of this card will go to benefit the work of the School Sisters of Notre Dame all over the world, in about 35 countries,” said Sister Virginia Muller, Treasurer for the Baltimore convent. “Wherever the need is, we will share it.”
The card turned up earlier this summer. It belonged to the blood brother of a member of the order and was left to the convent upon his passing earlier this year.
While the condition is not great – far below most of the T206 baseball cards that have been sold in recent years – the supply of Wagner cards is still far less than the demand among vintage card collectors.
It came, presented simply in plastic, with a note from the late owner that read: “Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21th century!”
It was Wagner himself who pulled the plug on the use of his image on the card, creating history’s most famous baseball card, though the reason is a subject of good-spirited debate among aficionados everywhere.
“I had no idea who Honus Wagner was before we saw this baseball card,” said Sister Virginia, “but I’ve certainly tried read everything I can about him now.”
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