I Could Do With A Couple Of These,

it is a valuable baseball card,

rather like the cigarette cards I used to collect as a kid, but these are a bit different, they are extremely rare, featuring the one pictured of Honus Wagner baseball card, dated 1909 the card is going under the hammer at a start price of $300,000 but the price is expected to reach or exceed $1 million, maybe even reaching $1.5 million, on Tuesday, Sunset Hills sports collectibles dealer Bill Goodwin will begin a month-long auction to sell one of the best examples of 'The Card,' the Wagner card is only about 2.5 inches by 1.5 inches, like all of its brethren in a set known as T206, it was released in cigarette packs sold by the American Tobacco Co., from 1909 to 1911,


but why is it so rare? the Wagner card stands apart from the set because it was pulled from circulation after about 200 cards were issued, there are two stories as to the reason, the standard spin is that Wagner did not want to encourage children to buy cigarettes or smoke, so he threatened to sue if any more of his cards were released, or some argue that Wagner was more irked about not getting paid for the use of his likeness as Wagner's image is on some cigar boxes, and he was photographed with a big chaw of tobacco in his mouth, what ever the reason I wish I had a couple of the cards!


but if you think that is expensive, though it was already famous with collectors, "The Card" got a massive boost in 1991, when hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and then-Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall paid $451,000 for the highest-graded Wagner card in existence, an "8," the "Gretzky Wagner" has changed hands several times and last sold in 2011 for $2.8 million to Ken Kendrick, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, just think if only my great grandfather had known back then I could have had one!