The Honus Wagner T206 card is tough to find but these Wagners are rarer

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Pre-War Cards

The Honus Wagner T206 card is easily the most important, and the most valuable, card in the hobby. Its legendary status has propelled it to a seven-figure card and it’s easily the most recognizable card of all time. One recently sold for more than $3 million.

But while the card is rare, it’s not nearly as rare as a lot of other cards. The Wagner T206 card proves that rarity doesn’t always correlate exactly with value. It is believed that there are about 50-75 Wagner T206 cards known and here are a few Wagner cards that are more difficult to find.

Reccius Cigars Card

This Honus Wagner Reccius Cigars card features a young Wagner as a member of the Louisville Colonels before he eventually went to the Pittsburgh Pirates and achieved his fame. The exact date of the card is in question, though. It is sometimes considered to be a late 1800s issue from either 1897, 1898, or 1899, but it is also sometimes called a 1900s issue as the picture was used on later products.

Whatever the case, the card is much harder to find than Wagner’s T206 as fewer than five of these are known to exist.

1911 Baltimore Newsboys (M131)

The 1911 Baltimore Newsboys cards were closely related to the E94 George Close Candy set. They used the same checklist and pictures with the lone difference being the blue backgrounds and different backs.

The cards were a promotion for Baltimore-area paperboys and $1.00 was paid to the first 35 boys collecting the entire set.

Wagner is featured in the set and, like other Baltimore Newsboys cards, is incredibly rare. To date, both PSA and SGC have combined to grade only two.

1910 Sepia Postcards (PC 796)

There are actually two cards in the 1910 Sepia Postcards set featuring Wagner that appear tougher to find than his T206 card. One features only Wagner while a second shows Wagner along with Ty Cobb, the two stars of the 1909 World Series a year earlier. The card featuring the pair (shown here) pictures the two stars shaking hands.

Notably, Wagner’s name is misspelled on his card where he is pictured with Cobb – there, it is spelled ‘Honas.’ The nickname Honus was really a shortened name of his full name ‘Johannes.’

While neither has the allure of the Wagner T206 both seem to be considerably rarer with PSA and SGC combining for only about a dozen known copies on each one.

1912 Plow’s Candy (E300)

Wagner is one of about 70 cards found in the 1912 Plow’s Candy set (E300). The Plow’s Candy cards are black and white with thick white borders.

The cards are generally pretty rare and that includes the Wagner. To date, in fact, PSA has graded only a single one and SGC has graded zero. More are surely out there but these are not easy cards to find.

1913-15 Pinkerton Scorecards (W530)

The 1913-15 Pinkerton Scorecards set is a rare issue and even a complete checklist isn’t known at this time. But Wagner is known to be in this issue as No. 872.

These cards featured black and white pictures on white side and a few different backs. one back includes a postcard backing, a second is blank, and a third includes a blank scorecard.

These cards are significantly rarer than the T206 and fewer than 20 have been graded by both PSA and SGC combined.

As an aside, the Pinkerton Scorecards are also seen in the T5 Pinkerton Cabinets set. The T5 cards are essentially Pinkerton Scorecards that have been mounted onto a backing.