T206 Honus Wagner Breaks Record For Highest-Selling Sports Cards Ever

A T206 Honus Wagner baseball card made history selling for $6.6 million, which includes a 20% buyer’s premium. The Wagner card shattered the record for highest-selling sports card of all time.

The previous record belonged to a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card that sold for $5.2 million in January. That record was later matched by a 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection LeBron James-autographed rookie jersey card in April.

Both the seller and buyer prefer to remain anonymous. The seller of the Wagner card is an “East Coast collector.”

“This Wagner stands out because of its condition,” said Brian Dwyer, president of Robert Edward Auctions, which brokered the deal. “There’s only about 60 of these that we can confirm through various population reports and available grading data. Of those 60, most are rated poor, authentic, or good, at best. This card is one of the best examples out there, and it’s certainly one of the best examples available.”

The Wagner card received a grade of three from Sportscard Guaranty Crop. (SGC). According to population reports from the three biggest card-grading companies, Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), Beckett Grading Services (BGS) and SGC, only four T206 Wagners have been graded higher than a three, combined, all in private collections.

Wagner’s baseball card was among more than 500 cards released from 1909-1911 by the American Tobacco Company. Wanger is considered the rarest to find because he demanded the company to stop using his likeness to market tobacco to children. Behind the Wagner baseball card is an advertisement for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes.

Wagner played for 21 seasons in the MLB from 1897 to 1917. Wagner won eight batting titles and batted .300 or better for 17 consecutive seasons. He was one of five players inducted into the Hall of Fame in its inaugural class of 1936.