Goldin Auctions will sell a T206 Honus Wagner card this spring with a pre-sale estimate of more than $5 million.
Graded a PSA 1, the card last sold publicly in 2010 by REA for $282,000.
If the card reaches its pre-sale estimate, it will land among the top 10 most expensive sports cards ever sold.
According to Goldin, the card last sold privately in 2020 for an undisclosed amount.
Last year, for the first time in 30 years, no T206 Honus Wagner card sold publicly.
The most recent sale for one of the rarest and most famous cards in the world came in 2023, when a PSA Authentic/Restored copy sold for nearly $2 million. That same card is also hitting the auction block this spring at Mile High Auctions.
It has become a common refrain in the industry that nobody has ever sold a T206 Wagner card for less than they bought it for — a claim which appears to be true based on publicly available sales history.
RELATED STORIES:
- For first time in 30 years, no T206 Honus Wagner sold publicly in 2024
- T206 Honus Wagner: Why world's most expensive card is so valuable
- T206 Honus Wagner card surfaces: 'It just came out of thin air'
- Jefferson Burdick was godfather of card collecting, gave T206 Honus Wagner its name
- Photo used to create T206 Honus Wagner card sells for $117,500
The most expensive T206 Wagner sale, a record for any sports card at the time and now the second-most expensive behind a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, sold for $7.25 million in a private sale brokered by Goldin for an SGC 2 copy in August 2022.
When the Wagner coming to Goldin last sold at REA, the auction house detailed its provenance, claiming the consignors were a father-son duo who purchased the card in 1985.
The story goes they were approached by an older gentleman at a Connecticut card show, who asked if they would be interested in a “complete T206 set … with the Wagner.”
The son, 16 at the time, recalled to REA, “He showed me the card. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. It was in a simple lucite holder. From the instant I saw it, I knew it was authentic. Not in great shape, but not trimmed or cleaned up or anything."
In addition to the Wagner, the set also included the legendary Eddie Plank, Sherry Magie and “every card and variation in the entire T206 set,” known as the Monster.
All 523 cards were present, sans the rare Joe Doyle error card, which had yet to be discovered. The man asked $10,000 for the full set, including the Wagner. The father-son team agreed, placing the Wagner in a lock box for the next 25 years.
By 2010, the value of the card had grown so significantly that the consignor said it was “too valuable for us to keep.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.