T206 Honus Wagner PSA-Auth (Restored) sold for $1,980,000

Mile High Card Company (Apr 26, 2025)

Exceptionally Attractive 1909-11 T206 Sweet Caporal 150/25 Honus Wagner PSA Authentic (Restored)

Of the millions of different sports card issues that have been distributed over the 156 years since Peck & Snyder, a New York sporting goods company, printed the first true "baseball card" with an image of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, none have matched the elite status afforded the T206 Honus Wagner card. While it's not the rarest card in existence, the unconfirmed population of 50-70 examples pales in comparison to every other issue in the T206 series. As just about every vintage collector knows, there are two schools of thought as to why the Wagner card has become such an icon, not just within the baseball card community but among celebrities, captains of industry, and just about anyone with the means and desire to attain one: the first is that Wagner objected to allowing his likeness to be used on a baseball card that promotes tobacco products, the second being that Wagner had production of the card halted because he was not being compensated by the American Tobacco Company for the use of his likeness. While it is true that Wagner is absent from most major tobacco issues of the era, his appearance in the T216 collection, which was distributed with Kotton, Mino, and Virginia Extra backs, suggests that the second theory is probably the more likely. And with all due respect to immortals like Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner was the biggest name in baseball when the T206 set went into production. Making his rookie debut in 1897 for the Louisville Colonels, Wagner and many of his Louisville teammates relocated to Pittsburgh as part of a merger of the two teams when the National League slimmed down from 12 to 8 teams. The move propelled the Pittsburgh Pirates to three consecutive first-place finishes, including a World Championship over the Boston Americans in the first-ever World Series. By the time the T206 series rolled into production, Wagner was still the league's premier hitter at the age of 35, having just earned his 7th National League batting title. He'd win the crown agan two years later and retire from baseball after 21 seasons at the age of 43. Honus Wagner posted an incredible .352 batting average over the prime of his career from 1900-1909, adding top NL honors twice for runs scored, seven times for most doubles, three times for most triples, four times for most RBI, five times for most stolen bases, and six times for highest slugging percentage during that span. ESPN ranked him #12 on its "Top 100 MLB Players of All-Time" list in 2022. So the rarity of the card and the skill of the subject has never been in doubt, but the ability to own one provides a level of elite significance within the hobby that few have ever attained. Mile High Card Company has had the distinct privilege of handling six sales of a T206 Wagner over the past five years, far and away the most of any auction house. The featured card returns to the auction block after having been sold in an MHCC auction in August 2023, the last time a Wagner was sold. There were no reported sales in 2024, the first time since 1996 that a T206 Wagner was not reported to have sold either publicly or privately, further demonstrating what a rare opportunity this is for the world-class collector. "Perhaps one such reason is that the exclusivity of the card, has prospective sellers requesting extraordinary reserves that are often denied by the auction houses to preserve the integrity of the auction. We are aware of a well-weathered PSA 1, which will be available in a competitors auction (starting just after this sale) with a starting bid inclusive of the Buyers Premium that is approaching 5 Million, when the record price for a card in that grade to date is the "Charlie Sheen" Wagner, sold by MHCC for $3,136,500 in March 2022. After taking a minute to think about this we do absolutely believe that the card will sell for this exceptional price. Only the market can tell if such an action is reasonable, but rest assured, this MHCC offering has no reserve and the card WILL go to the highest bidder when the auction ends regardless of whether it reaches those heights." As for the card, the AUTHENTIC determination originates from the hand-cut perimeter. Since that alteration precluded the card from receiving a numerical grade, one of the previous owners decided to improve the aesthetics of the card by having the surface restored, removing the blemishes to make the Carl Horner-created image Wagner the focal point of the piece once again. The supporting orange backdrop that is so familiar to collectors is no longer fraught with glaring imperfection, gladly yielding the spotlight to the famous image of "The Flying Dutchman." With reported sales of $6,606,296 for an SGC 3 in August 2021 and a world-record $7,500,000 for an SGC 2 in an August 2022 private sale, in addition to the PSA 1 "Charlie Sheen Wagner" that was sold in an MHCC auction for $3,136,500 in March 2022, the featured card offers comparable eye appeal and could be had for a more temperate price. The new owner will instantly earn their coronation as a patriarch of the hobby and possess one of the greatest pieces of collectible material ever produced!