Rare T206 Cards Break Records

You won\'t find rare baseball cards more desirable than the T206 Honus Wagner, Doyle \"NY Nat\'l\", Sherry \"Magee\" and Eddie Plank.

The four rare cards all changed hands in one auction recently. Robert Edward Auctions sold a PSA 1 graded Wagner for $399,500, easily breaking the record for that grade. The \"Beckett\" Wagner, also graded PSA 1, sold for $317,250 during REA\'s 2008 event while another card in similar condition sold in another auction for $227,050.

What makes the Wagner so rare? Many say it was pulled at Wagner's request after he didn't want kids to have to associate with cigarettes and smokers to obtain his picture. Others say it was a money issue. But a Sports Collector's Daily blog post offers another thought. Maybe it was the first-ever chase card, deliberately short-printed.

The Wagner may get most of the publicity in the T206 baseball card world, but it\'s not the rarest card in the set. A Doyle \"hands above head\" \"Nat\'l\" variation --one of less than ten believed to exist--sold for $329,000.

The identities of the buyers aren\'t known, but competition is keen among the elite and well-funded collectors for such rarities.

REA also sold a high grade Plank from the collection of the late Charlie Conlon. Discovered along with the \'holy grail\' Wagner graded PSA 8, the Plank card was returned by PSA with only an \'authentic\' designation, but it\'s near perfect centering and sharp corners helped the buyer overlook the grading slap. The card sold for $111,625. A PSA 6-graded Plank sold in the same auction for over $188,000.

Finally, a Sherry Magee error card brought $16,450.

A complete set of T206s, missing the \'big four\' sold in the auction for $176,250. The set was among the top ten PSA-graded sets ever pieced together.

Legendary Auctions also offered some T206s in its sale. A lot of 195 PSA 5s brought $19,200--the same price afforded a Ty Cobb red background portrait card graded PSA 8.