Goldin Auctions facilitated the sale of a newly unearthed 1909 Sweet Caporal T206 Honus Wagner card for $5.124 million (inclusive of the purchaser’s surcharge). This card, extracted from a freshly issued tobacco pack and preserved by the same family for over a century, now stands as the third priciest T206 Wagner. It trails only the specimen acquired for $6.606 million in August 2021 and the instance privately transacted for $7.25 million in August 2022.
Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) assigned a grade of 1 to this Wagner. In contrast, the two superior-priced Wagner examples underwent assessment by Sportscard Guaranty Corporation (SGC), obtaining ratings of 3 and 2, in that order.
In an official announcement, Ken Goldin, Goldin’s Chief Executive Officer and founder, declared, “We are privileged that the Shields family selected us to showcase this momentous card, which has remained within their lineage for 116 years.”
The Wagner card was the property of Douglas and Dennis Shields. Their grandfather, Morton Bernstein, who was the son of the National Silver Company’s originator, amassed and safeguarded collectible cards during the nascent 20th century. After Bernstein acquired F.B. Rogers Silver Company in 1955 and extended operations westward, he enclosed his cards in frames, using them to adorn his establishments. Upon the dissolution of the National Silver Company, these cards were relocated to a storage facility and ultimately willed to Dennis and Douglas.
In December, Goldin unveiled the card, an unearthing documented in the third season of Netflix’ “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch.”
Goldin proceeded to state, “The Shields conveyed to me tonight their immense satisfaction with the transaction — and our wish is that the subsequent owner values it as deeply as they did.” He concluded by asserting, “The T206 Honus Wagner persists as the veritable Mona Lisa of sports collectibles.”
The narrative surrounding the T206 Wagner is highly cherished in the realm of sports cards, stemming from the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop’s request to the American Tobacco Company to withdraw it from manufacturing in 1909. Explanations for its limited availability vary, encompassing possibilities such as a production plate error, Wagner’s improbable alleged dispute over peddling nicotine products to minors, or even his role as an early advocate for name, image, and likeness rights, protesting the use of his image sans appropriate remuneration.
This isn’t the sole Wagner card making headlines presently. A specimen graded SGC Authentic (a condition inferior to a 1) is presently valued at $2.318 million, with six remaining days in its Heritage Auction.