AR / ITEM / 00100411
The Gretzky T206 Honus Wagner
The finest-known T206 Honus Wagner, once owned by Wayne Gretzky and later admitted by its first dealer to have been trimmed.
- Date
- 1909–11
- Catalogue
- T206 Honus Wagner
Plate not recorded
No photograph with documented reuse rights is held for this record.
Record
The card surfaced in 1985 when a Long Island collector, Alan Ray, sold it to the dealer Bill Mastro. Mastro sold it in 1987 to Jim Copeland for $110,000. In 1991 Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall bought it at Sotheby's for $451,000. Gretzky sold it in 1995 to Walmart and Treat Entertainment for $500,000 as the prize in a promotional contest; the winner, a Florida postal worker, sold it at Christie's in 1996 for $640,500 to Michael Gidwitz. It sold in 2000 through Robert Edward Auctions for $1.27 million, privately in February 2007 for $2.35 million and later that year for $2.8 million to an anonymous buyer revealed in 2011 as Ken Kendrick, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2013 Mastro pleaded guilty to mail fraud and admitted that he had cut the card's side borders before selling it in 1987.
- Culture
- American
- Medium
- Commercial lithograph on card, Piedmont cigarette back
- Origin
- United States
In the Tapestry
- Depicts
- Honus WagnerC
- Owned by · 1991–1995
- Wayne GretzkyC
- Owned by · 1991–1995
- Bruce McNallCmedium confidence
- Owned by · from 2007
- Ken KendrickCmedium confidence
- Made by · 1909–11
- American Tobacco CompanyC
- Associated with · 1996
- Christie'sCmedium confidence
- Associated with
- Professional Sports AuthenticatorCmedium confidence
Provenance and history
1985
Sold by Alan Ray to the dealer Bill MastroC
1985–87
Side borders trimmed by Bill MastroA
Admitted by Mastro in a 2013 plea agreement; the alteration was not disclosed at later sales.
1987
Sold to Jim Copeland for $110,000C
1991
Bought at Sotheby's by Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall for $451,000C
1995
Sold to Walmart and Treat Entertainment as a contest prizeC
For $500,000; won by a Florida postal worker.
1996
Sold at Christie's for $640,500C
Bought by the collector Michael Gidwitz.
2000
Sold through Robert Edward Auctions for $1.27 millionC
2007
Sold privately for $2.8 million to Ken KendrickC
After a private sale for $2.35 million earlier in 2007; the buyer was named in 2011.
2013
Bill Mastro pleads guilty and admits trimming the cardB
Sources
- A
NPR, 'Dealer Says He Doctored Most Valuable Baseball Card Ever Sold' (10 April 2013)
↗ View original record - B
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, 'Former owner of Mastro Auctions sentenced to 20 months in federal prison'
↗ View original record - C
Wikipedia, 'Honus Wagner baseball card'
↗ View original record
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