Since I was a kid I’ve dreamed of one day owning the Holy Grail of baseball cards; a T206 Honus Wagner. As I was growing up collecting baseball cards, the greatness of the Wagner card was the top conversation in the baseball trading-card world.
In August of last year, a Wagner card was sold for $6.606 million, shattering the record for the highest-selling sports card of all time. It was graded a 3 out of a 10 and is one of only about 60 known to exist. That Wagner card was graded by Sportscard Guaranty Corp. (SGC).
Reports from the three biggest card-grading companies— Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), Beckett Grading Company, and SGC— say there are only four T206 Wagners in private collections graded higher than a 3. Since before the pandemic, there had never been a Wagner sold for less than $1 million.
This past weekend, however, SCP Auctions announced they’d finalized the sale of a T206 Honus Wagner card for $475,960. This is because this Wagner was torn in half. His left jaw is missing, as is most of his torso. The card received only a “genuine” categorization from PSA, which isn’t uncommon for cards with major physical flaws and the card-grading giant confirms that the Wagner is “real but nothing more.” Amazingly, it’s still worth almost half a million dollars.
But this card still wasn’t quite the most shocking deal of the weekend. Collectible marketplace Goldin confirmed the sale of a 2020 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autographs Superfractor Jasson Dominguez card, numbered 1/1, for $474,000. Dominguez, a totally unknown player, is a New York Yankees prospect, turns 19 Monday, and has amassed a .252 career batting average in 206 at-bats between rookie and Class A ball.
These miraculous stories continue to show why the sports trading card industry is booming once again and why collectors excitedly wait for the next high-priced sale.
Article by: Chris Steele, iHearts143Quotes Team member
