Honus Wagner Card Smashes Record With $6.6 Million Sale, Continuing Trading Card Boom

The trading card industry continues to make history in 2021. A new record was set Monday morning when a T206 Honus Wagner baseball card was sold for a whopping $6.6 million.

The sale includes a 20% buyer’s premium and broke the previous mark by seven figures. A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card was sold for $5.2 million in January. In April, that record was matched when a 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection LeBron James-autographed rookie jersey card was purchased for the same price.

"This Wagner stands out because of its condition," said Brian Dwyer, president of Robert Edward Auctions. "There's only about 60 of these that we can confirm through various population reports and available grading data. Of those 60, most are rated poor, authentic or good, at best. This card is one of the best examples out there, and it's certainly one of the best examples available."

The Honus Wanger card has long been considered the greatest sports card of all time. It became the first sports card to break the $1 million barrier when it sold for $1.27 million on eBay in 2000. In 2007, a T206 Honus Wagner card was bought for $2.35 million, then re-sold a few months later to Arizona Diamondbacks principal owner Ken Kendrick for $2.8 million.

Wagner played his last MLB game over 100 years ago, putting together one of the greatest careers in the history of professional baseball. The Hall-of-Fame shortstop won eight batting titles with the Pittsburgh Pirates and led the National League in RBI five times. Wagner ranks seventh all-time with 3,430 career hits and 10th with 722 stolen bases.

The Wagner card that was sold for $3.3 million in 2016 held the record for four years. That was broken in August 2020 with the purchase of a Mike Trout rookie card for just under $4 million.

The market for basketball and football cards also appears to be booming.

A one-of-one 2018-19 Panini National Treasures Luka Doncic Logoman RPA was sold for $4.6 million in March. An autographed Patrick Mahomes rookie card sold for an NFL record $4.3 million in July.