$1.62 Million 1909 T206 Honus Wagner Establishes New High for a Baseball Card in a Public Sale! Mastro Auctions, the world’s leading Sports and Americana auction house, saved the best for last at its second Live Sports Auction held in Chicago at the ESPNZone in Chicago on August 1. The last lot of the evening was a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner baseball card, graded PSA EX 5 that realized a final price of $1.62 million – a new record for a single baseball card sold at auction. The winning bidder was John Rogers of Little Rock, Arkansas who calls the acquisition of the card the fulfillment of a “lifelong dream.”
As dramatic as the sale of the Wagner card was, there was also plenty of excitement generated by other lots in the auction, which overall totaled $4.7 million. The average selling price per lot of $50,000 is more than ten times the normal price realized per lot in a typical Premier auction event. “It was an incredible event in every aspect,” says Doug Allen, COO and President of Mastro Auctions. “The venue was exciting, the bidding was fast-paced and the results speak for themselves.”
In addition to the actual auction results, Allen says another big plus was that the night served to benefit a great charitable cause. All of the auction’s admission fees and the proceeds from certain auctioned items were donated to Derrek Lee’s 1st Touch Foundation. A main focus of Lee’s Foundation is to assist those affected by Lebers Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) an extremely rare disease which causes severe vision loss and blindness.
More top highlights include:
*Â An 1888 N321 S.F. Hess California League SGC-graded near set (39/40) sold for $240,000.
*Â A Lou Gehrig 1938 New York Yankees game worn road jersey – from his final season went for $240,000.
*Â A Babe Ruth 1920 H&B signed game used bat – personally obtained by Buck Weaver realized a final price of $120,000.
*Â A 1960 Topps complete set (572) – #2 on the PSA Set Registry went for $108,000.
*Â A rare 1903 World Series program at Boston sold $96,000.
*Â A 1933 Goudey Sport Kings complete uncut sheet (24 cards) featuring Ruth, Cobb, Thorpe and Grange commanded $90,000.
*Â Wilt Chamberlain’s 1959-60 “The President’s Trophy” – Podoloff Cup MVP Award from Chamberlain’s NBA Rookie season went for $84,000.
*Â A Lou Gehrig 1938 H&B small signature game used bat – from his last full season sold for $84,000.
*Â A Hank Aaron 1974 Atlanta Braves complete home uniform – worn for Home Run No. 733 – including jersey, pants, belt, stirrups, cleats, helmet and hat went for $72,000.
*Â A 1909-11 T206 White Border Ty Cobb, Red Portrait with “Ty Cobb” reverse – SGC 30 GD 2 sold for $66,000.
*Â A 2004 New England Patriots Super Bowl XXXIX Player’s Championship ring – awarded to Cedric Cobbs sold for $66,000.
*Â 1917 E135 Collins-McCarthy #147 Babe Ruth – SGC 88 NM/MT 8 “1 of 1!” commanded $57,000.
*Â A spectacular single signed Babe Ruth ball – PSA/DNA NM-MT+ 8.5 went for $57,000.
*Â A Roberto Clemente 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates game worn road jersey – incredible unrestored condition realized a final price of $57,000.
*Â A spectacular and rare 1930s Babe Ruth tri-fold “Old Gold Cigarettes” advertising display sold for $57,000.
For more information on the results of the Live Auction or details on upcoming events, call Mastro Auctions at 630-472-1200.
About Mastro Auctions
Mastro Auctions, Burr Ridge, Ill., is part of the Silkroad Equity family of companies. It is the leading high value collectibles auction company. The company has involved in the sale of many of the most famous and valuable Sports and Americana collectibles ever publicly offered, including the most expensive baseball card, the T206 Honus Wagner which sold for nearly $1.3 million, the bat Babe Ruth used to hit his first home run in Yankee Stadium that sold for $1.2 million, the most expensive baseball card set that sold for $800,00, Norman Rockwell’s “The Dugout†for $355,000, Roger Maris’ 1961 jersey he wore when he hit home run #61 for $302,000, the bus Rosa Parks rode on when she refused to stand for segregation that sold for nearly $500,000 and the famous Steve Bartman Cubs foul ball for over $100,000.
