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Honus Wagner card breaks trading card record with $7.25M sale at Goldin
A T206 Honus Wagner card has broken the record for the most expensive trading card of all time, selling for $7.25 million in a private sale facilitated by Goldin Co.
The card, which is graded SGC 2 by Sportscard Guaranty Corp., broke the $6.6 million record that was set last year by a T206 Wagner card sold at auction by Robert Edward Auctions. That Wagner card is graded SGC 3.
“I’ve been in this business for a very long time and seen a lot of incredible trading cards and pieces of memorabilia, but there is nothing on earth like a T206 card,” Goldin Founder and Executive Chairman Ken Goldin said. “There’s a reason why no Wagner card has never sold for less than it was previously purchased for — the card is art, it’s history, it’s folklore.
“The T206 is one of the reasons I do what I do and why serious collectors around the world love this hobby so much. To be a part of history and facilitate this record-breaking sale is an honor.”
The 1909-11 T206 Sweet Caporal Wagner is one of the “holy grails” sports cards, with fewer than 50 authenticated copies in existence.
A Wagner card held the all-time sports card record for years before being broken in August of 2020 by a Mike Trout 1/1 rookie card that sold for $3.9 million. That record was broken in early 2021 by a Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle card that sold for $5.2 million, a mark that was soon matched by a 1/1 LeBron James rookie card.
The new record may not last long as a Topps 1952 Mantle card, graded 9.5, is trending toward a record during Heritage Auctions’ Summer Sports Auction, which closes Aug. 27-28.
The 9.5 Mantle card, which was on display at the National Sports Collectors Convention last week, has a current bid of $7.08 million with the buyer’s premium. It is expected to top $10 million before the auction closes.
Also See: Meet the owner of the ‘52 Mantle 9.5
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
