Cards
Controversial Restored T206 Honus Wagner card sells for $1.3 million at LOTG
A controversial T206 Honus Wagner card that was expected to test the market for altered and restored card sold for $1.33 million at Love of the Game Auctions.
The mysterious “Die-Cut Wagner,” which has been graded Authentic Restored by CGC, was up for bid in LOTG's Summer Premier Auction through Aug. 8. It was on display at the CGC booth at The National, where it created quite a buzz during the show.
The infamous card, which has been almost completely restored and has sparked debate over whether restored or reconstructed cards are legitimate collectibles and whether they should be sold, sold for $1,337,263. It had an opening bid of $400,000 when the auctioned opened, and quickly soared beyond $1 million before settling on its final price after 24 bids.
“When we brought it here to CGC, they verified it and we knew, this is really a controversial card,” said Al Crisafulli, founder and auction director of Love of the Game. “It’s pretty amazing and beautiful. It’s a gorgeous card and it’s obviously going to have everybody talking about it, so it’s probably a good time to put it up to auction while everybody is talking about it.”
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The original “Die-Cut” Wagner was so heavily damaged that the entire background of the card, along with its three borders, had been trimmed away. All that remained was the head and torso that formed a silhouette of the familiar image of Wagner. The back of the card was also missing.
The card initially surfaced in a New Jersey card shop in 1975, where the owners bought it for $1. It sold for $200 and later $500 before being auctioned in 1996 for $12,000.
It eventually wound up in the hands of a paper conservator who completely restored the card at the suggestion of a noted collector, who later bought the refurbished card.
Thinking it was of little value, the collector kept the restored card in a Lucite screw-down holder and “used it like it like an expensive paperweight” for the next 30 years.
“At one point he owned three Wagners and this one sort of became, until just recently, sort of an afterthought in his collection,” Crisafulli said. “He didn’t know what it was.”
With the card back on the market, it raised key questions about whether a restored card is a legitimate trading card. For decades trimmed and doctored cards were taboo and at times became an epidemic in the hobby, with unscrupulous dealers selling altered cards without disclosing the restoration. That may be about to change with the “Die-Cut” Wagner, which now has great eye appeal for a 117-year-old
“To be able to sell a card with full disclosure and still have the card be as high profile as this card has been is what everyone is talking about it,” Crisafulli said. “The hobby is willing to accept the disclosure and they are willing to accept this work.”
Crisafulli hopes the sale of the card encourages dealers and sellers to disclose any doctoring, trimming or restoration to a card.
“Hopefully that sends a message to people that if you are restoring cards, disclose it. There’s still value there,” he said. “It’s not worth what a natural, uncut Wagner in that condition would be worth … but the money that it is going for now is still real money. I think it speaks volume as to where the hobby has gotten to and where collectors have gotten in terms of their willingness to accept that kind of thing.”
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
