Auctions
Mysterious ‘Die-Cut’ Honus Wagner card surfaces, headed to auction
A mysterious T206 Honus Wagner card that has been restored and graded as “Authentic” is coming to auction and will be up for bid later this month.
The rare T206 Honus Wagner card is widely considered the “holy grail” of sports cards and one of the most iconic and valuable cards in the hobby.
The card, known as the “Die-Cut Wagner,” was recently discovered in a collection and graded “Authentic – Restored” by CGC. It is headed to auction at Love of the Game Auctions. LOTG’s summer auction opens in late July and closes on Aug. 8.
“Every T206 Wagner has a story,” said Al Crisafulli, LOTG founder and auction director. “This one has a story so extraordinary, it includes a plot twist.”
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The card was sold publicly in the 1990s as a trimmed card that earned the nickname “The Die-Cut Wagner.” According to LOTG, the conservation work on the card was so masterful that even its owner didn’t recognize what he had.
The card was first discovered in a New Jersey card shop in the mid-1970s, where it was purchased for $1 in a “heavily compromised state,” with the background almost entirely trimmed off the card. It passed through the hands of noted collectors before selling at auction for nearly $10,000 in the mid-1990s. It then disappeared from public view until this spring.
According to LOTG, the current owner of the card commissioned an expert paper conservator with access to a Wagner to purchase and restore the card, sight unseen. The collector, who did not recognize the card as the “Die-Cut Wagner,” placed it in a Lucite screw-down holder and used it as a glorified paperweight, according to LOTG.
After learning in April that the card might be the “Die-Cut Wagner,” the collector brought the card to LOTG, which compared a high-res scan of the original card and a close-up photo of the “paperweight” and concluded that the cards were one and the same.
The restored card was recently evaluated by Andy Broome, VP of Grading at CGC. Broome confirmed that the card was the original “Die-Cut Wagner” and graded it “Authentic – Restored.”
“This restored T206 Wagner has pristine centering, clean borders and an exceptional presentation,” Crisafulli said. “Today, it stands not only as an example of the hobby’s greatest card, but as a testament to survival and preservation. It’s remarkable story is ultimately as engrossing as the treasure itself. LOTG is honored to offer one of the most beautiful, compelling and, yes, controversial T206 Wagners the collecting world will ever know.”
For more information, check out the card at loveofthegameauctions.com/the-restored-die-cut-wagner.
