LOT #19032 |
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1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner SGC 10 Poor 1. "There is something Lincolnesque about him," Pulitzer Prize-winning sports journal...
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Sold on May 2, 2008 for:
$227,050.00
Bid Source: Internet bidder
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Description
1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner SGC 10 Poor 1. "There is something Lincolnesque about him," Pulitzer Prize-winning sports journalist Arthur Daley once wrote, "his rugged homeliness, his simplicity, his integrity, and his true nobility of character." Hall of Fame manager John McGraw considered him the greatest ballplayer of all time, and Ty Cobb recalled him as the one man he couldn't intimidate. Yet despite the universal high praise from friends and foes, and his membership in the 1936 inaugural class of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Honus Wagner is best remembered today as the face on the most valuable and coveted of all baseball cards.While there is some truth to the argument that Wagner's greatness plays a role in the importance of this ultimate collecting rarity, one must acknowledge that it's a supporting role only. An equal print run to contemporaries like Cobb, Young and Mathewson would almost certainly have found Wagner's value equivalent to those legends' as well. But it was Wagner's refusal of the American Tobacco Company's request for permission to use his image that set him apart and above.
The most popular story to explain this refusal is that Wagner wished to play no role in the promotion of the use of tobacco, though it has been justly stated that he was himself a user, and had appeared in advertisements for many tobacco products previously. Another theory notes Wagner's reputation as a fierce negotiator, arguing that it was nothing more than a case of a failure to agree upon a dollar figure that led the ATC to end production of Wagner's card almost as soon as it started.
This unsolved mystery has only served to further enhance the mystique of the treasure presented here, one of just a few dozen examples of the famed Honus Wagner T206 known to exist. A colorized version of a studio portrait by celebrated early baseball photographer Carl Horn
Auction Info
2008 May Signature Sports Collectibles Auction Session I #9709 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
May, 2008
2nd
Friday
Internet/Mail Bids: 30
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 29,188
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
19.5% of the successful bid per lot.
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