1909

T206

Honus Wagner

Card Gallery

Note: This Page and Gallery is intended for informative purposes only, these cards are not owned by Frank and are not available for sale by centuryoldcards.com

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Why is the T206 Honus Wagner card so sought after??

First off, the T206 set is by far the most popular baseball card set of all time.  If you want a complete set, you need the Honus Wagner card. There are roughly 50-65 authentic T206 Honus Wagner cards known.  The card was withdrawn early in production most likely for 2 reasons, first because Mr. Wagner wasn't paid, and possibly because he didn't want to promote youth smoking.

In 1909 The ATC (American Tobacco Company) began using sportswriters as a middle men to seek permission from ballplayers to use their image on full color pictures to be included in packs of cigarettes.  An article in the October 12, 1912 issue of THE SPORTING NEWS recounts the story of a Pittsburgh sportswriter who tried to get permission from Wagner, only to be rejected by Honus as the article states, who "did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes."