T206 Honus Wagner PSA-2 sold for a record price of $236,706

Written by T206museum (April, 2005)

MastroNet auctioned a T206 Honus Wagner PSA-2 and sold for $236,706 in their April 14-15, 2005 MastroNet Sports & Americana auction. This is the highest price ever sold for a PSA-2 specimen. In the last couple of auctions, T206 Honus Wagner being graded as PSA-1 sold for over $100,000 and "Authentic" specimens sold for $63000 range. The last PSA-2 Wagner was sold by MastroWest in September 2000 for $74,918 and a PSA-3 Wagner sold for $145,314 by Mastro in November 2000.

This is the auction description:

Graded GOOD 2 by PSA, one of just 10 examples in existence at its tier with more than one-third of the piece's total population grading lesser. This is one of the very few collectibles on earth for which no explanatory description is required, and for which verbal inducement intended to pique interest is utterly redundant. The mere sight of a T206 Wagner is sufficient to provoke an unbelievably pleasant sensation, unique to each individual, within the emotional core of a baseball enthusiast. Wagner's legend is well-traveled-particularly as it relates to this small but majestic printed piece with the distinctive orange background-but the specifics of each T206 Wagner's singular journey remain bountifully intriguing. We recognize the likeness of the Dutchman at once, but related questions immediately ensue. "Where has this card been? What has it seen?" Those wonderings are compelling in each Wagner card's own instance. They only add even more fuel to the magnetic wish to possess it, and, in so doing, to contribute to the card's personal time-line's path. Rather than being disrupted overmuch by a grading assessment that might, at first blush, be perceived as negative, this specimen's mystique is sparkling and intact. Creases trace a faint latticework about the cardfront's central subject, but the observer sees at once that Wagner's gaze has remained solid and direct-as if mere fingers would dare to touch those eyes! Viewed casually, the piece works its magic with time-tested effectiveness and power, and, studied closely, its evidence of handling forms gripping testimony with respect to the relic's immutability and endurance. The reverse's advertisement marks the card's long-ago embarkation into the world as a Sweet Caporal Cigarettes promotional giveaway, but its subsequent peregrinations have carried the keepsake through dimensions about which we can only speculate. Here is the item that has inspired the industry from its earliest days, and the artifact which continues to be the ultimate goal for every enthusiast. Honus Wagner's presence elevates any collection like no other force on the planet, but so lamentably few of the industry's finest assemblies have the opportunity to attain the resultant, ultra-elite status thus afforded. This special card, with its signs of natural circulation displayed proudly and its superb eye appeal left undiminished, represents the cherished essence of the innumerable, rewarding lifetimes spent in pursuit of collecting fulfillment.

Minimum Bid: $50,000.00
Final Bid: $236,706.00