Lakewood Ranch sports card business certifies rare $1.3M item

A Lakewood Ranch business that specializes in authenticating collectible cards certified a rare baseball card that recently sold for $1.33 million. CGC Cards says this is the highest amount ever paid for a CGC-certified sports card.

The card was a 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner. Nicknamed the “Flying Dutchman,” Wagner was a longtime shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates who won eight National League batting titles, led the league in stolen bases five times and was the league’s leader in RBIs four times, according to a statement. A 1909 World Series champion, Wagner was inducted as part of the Baseball Hall of Fame's inaugural class of 1936, the statement says.

Between 1909 and 1911, the Honus Wagner card was issued as part of the American Tobacco Company’s T206 set. However, it was pulled from production early, leading experts to believe only 200 were produced. A little more than 50 of the cards have been certified by third-party grading services, making the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner “one of the most coveted rarities in the entire hobby,” according to a statement from CGC Cards.

Using forensic tools including a video spectral comparator, CGC Cards certified and authenticated the card, which had been owned by sports commentator Keith Olbermann and professionally restored using period-appropriate donor material from the 1909-11 T206 set, according to a statement.

Before Olbermann owned the card, Wagner's portrait had been cut away from its original surrounding design and backing, leaving behind the player's silhouette, the statement says. It was brought to a hobby shop in the mid-1970s and circulated through hobby and private collections, becoming known among collectors as the "Die-Cut Wagner."

Once Olbermann acquired the card and commissioned its restoration, the work reunited the Wagner silhouette with a matching front design and period-correct back while preserving a transparent record of the restoration, according to the statement.

The Die-Cut Wagner card received 24 bids before it was sold, by Love of the Game Auctions Aug. 9, the statement says.

“The auction result is another extraordinary chapter in the history of a card that has already lived an extraordinary life,” Andy Broome, CGC’s vice president of sports card grading, says in the statement. “Collectors responded not only to what the T206 Honus Wagner represents within the hobby, but also to the opportunity to understand this particular card’s history with greater clarity. Authentication and transparent documentation allow that entire story — including its restoration — to travel with the card for its next generation of ownership.”

The 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card represents the second CGC-certified example valued at seven figures. According to the statement, the first was a 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle - Type 1 graded CGC 8, which netted $1.25 million in a December 2022 SCP Auctions sale. 

CGC Cards launched in 2020 as a division within Certified Guaranty Company, the Business Observer previously reported. Through its other divisions, CGC also provides certification for comic books, video games and other collectibles.

CGC is an independent member of Certified Collectibles Group, a global provider of authentication and grading services that has certified more than 110 million collectibles, including coins, banknotes, comic books, cards, autographs and stamps, since 1987.