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SCG 3 Honus Wagner card could set new record at Robert Edward Auctions
A SCG 3 grade of the famous T206 Honus Wagner card is set to hit the open market and could set a new record for sports cards.
The 1909 T206 Wagner is considered the “Holy Grail” of sports card and the SCG 3 is one of the five best-known examples in existence. It is the highest graded example to hit the market in the past six years.
Part of the Summer Auction at Robert Edwards Auctions, the card was the centerpiece of an ungraded T206 set owned by a Texas collector for more than 30 years. According to Sports Collectors Daily, the card was originally acquired by a Long Island, N.Y. collector in 1973.
In 2012, the card was graded VG 3 by SGC and sold at a public auction for $1,232,466, a record for the grade at the time. That record was broken again during a private sale in the last two years, according to REA.
T206 Wagner cards rarely hit the open market, and typically go for six figures when they do. The most recent sales includes an SGC Authentic selling for $2.5 million; an SGC 1.5 selling for $2.2 million; and an PSA 2 selling for a record $3,751,500.
The Robert Edwards offering is one of only four T206 Wagners graded SGC 3 with three additional VG examples graded by PSA. Only four examples are grade higher — a PSA NM-MT 8, PSA EX 5, PSA EX 5 (MC) and one PSA VG-EX 4.
According to REA, “This is a particularly strong T206 Wagner far exceeds the condition and visual appeal usually found with T206 Wagners. This is very easily seen just by looking at the card, but it is further confirmed when one evaluates the known T206 Wagner population as documented by the PSA and SGC population reports.”
The reserve for the card is $1 million.
A 1952 Mickey Mantle card graded PSA 9 set the all-time record for sports cards early this year at $5.2 million. That was then matched by the private sell of a LeBron autograph patch rookie card. In June, a 1916 Babe Ruth Baltimore News card sold for an undisclosed price believe to be around $6 million. A 1/1 Steph Curry rookie card recently sold in an investment transaction valued at $5.9 million.
