Ripped Honus Wagner T206 Card Sells for over $475K at Auction

Rob Goldberg @@TheRobGoldbergFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 6, 2022

The 1909 baseball card of Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner is displayed for a photograph in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. The trading card that the National Baseball Hall of Fame calls the sport's "most famous collectible" will be up for sale starting Feb. 25, and might fetch more than $2.8 million, according to the auction house. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Most sports memorabilia collectors look for trading cards in mint condition, but a Honus Wagner card is apparently valuable even ripped in half.

A T206 Honus Wagner sold for $475,959 in an online auction that closed Saturday despite being only partially intact, per The Athletic. TMZ provided a look at the card, which fortunately still shows most of his face:

TMZ Sports @TMZ_Sports
Half Ripped Honus Wagner 'Holy Grail' Card On Auction Block, Could Rake In $500K+ <a href="https://t.co/jBiyA3uLtI">https://t.co/jBiyA3uLtI</a>

This has been one of the most sought-after baseball cards in the world. Originally created for cigarette boxes from 1909 to 1911, its value has surged in recent years.

Last August, a version of the card sold for a record $6.6 million. Another sold for $3.75 million a few months earlier.

The poor condition of the latest Wagner card kept it from setting records, but it still fetched six figures, putting it ahead of most other memorabilia in existence.

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