A 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $2.1 million in an online auction. It is the most a person has paid for a card in a public sale. Wagner cards are considered to be the Holy Grails in sports cards because there are so few of them, especially in good condition.
The American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909-1911 issued the card in their products. Wagner ordered them to stop because he either did not want kids to purchase tobacco products or he wanted more compensation from ATC.
Johannes Peter “Honus” Wagner played shortstop for the Louisville Colonels (1897-1899) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1900-1917). He is widely considered to be one of the best in dead-ball era and was one of the first five members inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. Only Ty Cobb received more votes and he tied with Babe Ruth. Cobb even referred to Wagner as the best player to ever play the game.
Less than 60 authenticated cards exist. This one is considered a “Jumbo” Wagner because it is larger than most.
The most famous one was once owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky. That one was sold to Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick in 2007.
Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions said he could not reveal the buyer. He did say the person was not someone in the hobby of collecting cards.
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