Wagner Card Sold for Record $1.265M
N E W Y O R K, July 16 -- Honus Wagner is still a big hit after 91 years.
A near-mint condition card depicting the Hall of Fame PittsburghPirates shortstop, issued in 1909 by the American Tobacco Company,fetched a winning bid of $1.1 million on Saturday on the eBayonline auction house.
The winning bidder, whose identity wasn’t released, will paynearly $1.27 million, which includes a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
Robert Lifson, president of Robert Edward Auctions, in Watchung,N.J., confirmed the sale price and said the buyer hadn’t decidedwhether to make his name public.
Auction Nets 13 Bids
Bidding on the card began at $500,000 on July 5, and 13 totalbids were made.
The card, widely regarded as one of the rarest among collectors,is the finest known specimen of about 50 Wagner cards known toexist from the 1909 set. That set, known to collectors as the T206set, is the most collected set of baseball cards ever.
“We’ve had several very high-priced items, but unfortunatelybecause of the sheer volume of items we don’t have a list ofhighest auctions,” eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said. “But it’ssafe to say that this Wagner card is in the top two or three.”
The card, won in an auction for $640,500 by renownedChicago-based collector Michael Gidwitz in 1996, broke its ownrecord for a sports card.
“I had a great time with this card and I’ll miss it,” Gidwitzsaid. “I had a good time buying it and I wish the person who wonit has as good a time with it as I had.”
‘The Money’s Nice’
Gidwitz, 50, said he has been collecting baseball cards andother memorabilia for 42 years. His extensive collection includesuncut sheets of baseball cards and rare original paintings of comicbooks and MAD magazine covers.
“The money’s nice, but I sold this card to draw attention tothe other things I have in my collection,” Gidwitz said. “I ownedit for three years and 10 months, and decided I wanted to sell it if Icould have fun doing it. I certainly had fun and I feel like I’m inthe card-collecting hall of fame.”
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