Restored T206 Honus Wagner Card Sells for $1,982,500 at Heritage Auctions

A restored example of the legendary T206 Honus Wagner has sold for $1,982,500 at Heritage Auctions, adding another seven-figure result to one of the most famous baseball cards ever produced. The 1909-11 T206 White Border Sweet Caporal 150/25 Honus Wagner was graded PSA Authentic (Restored) and sold during Heritage’s Fall Sports Catalog Auction. The winning bid was $1,625,000, with Heritage’s 22% buyer’s premium bringing the final price to $1,982,500.

The result closes the auction CollectiblesNews.com previewed earlier in October, when Heritage announced the Wagner as the centerpiece of its October 23-25 sports sale. This example carries the Sweet Caporal 150 Subjects, Factory No. 25 advertising back. PSA authenticated the card but did not assign it a numerical grade because restoration work has been performed.

Heritage disclosed that the borders have been trimmed and that color was professionally added in areas to reduce the visual prominence of creasing. The auction house said the restoration improved the card’s overall presentation while retaining Wagner’s familiar portrait against the orange background. Even with the restoration, the card still reached nearly $2 million, underscoring how strongly collectors continue to value authentic examples of the T206 Wagner regardless of condition or alteration.

The result comes just two months after another Wagner produced a much larger price at Heritage. In August, one of only three known Piedmont-backed T206 Honus Wagner cards sold for $5.856 million. That card was graded SGC Authentic and established what Heritage said was a record for a Wagner carrying an Authentic designation.

The $5.856 million Piedmont card was itself part of an extraordinary year for Wagner sales at Heritage. The auction house sold the SGC Authentic “Garagiola Wagner” for $3.599 million in March. That card had previously sold through Heritage for $2.52 million in 2021.

Collectors have also seen other restored Wagner examples surface this year. In July, CollectiblesNews.com reported on the unusual “Die-Cut Wagner” authenticated and encapsulated by CGC. That card, owned by sports commentator and writer Keith Olbermann, had at one point been cut down to Wagner’s silhouette before being professionally restored with period-appropriate T206 material. CGC certified it Authentic – Restored before its public display at Fanatics Fest NYC. The “Die-Cut Wagner” wound up selling for $1,337,263.20 in Love of the Game Auctions’ Summer 2026 Premier Auction.

The repeated appearances show just how many different forms the surviving Wagner population can take. Some carry traditional Sweet Caporal backs, while the August Heritage example belonged to the tiny group with Piedmont advertising. Others have been trimmed, altered or extensively restored, making authentication and provenance especially important when one reaches the market.

The T206 Wagner’s reputation was built in part around its famously short production run. Heritage says the card appeared only briefly in 1909 before production stopped. Wagner went on to win eight National League batting titles, finish his career with a .328 batting average and become one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

More than a century later, the card remains one of the defining trophies of sports collecting. Heritage’s archive now includes the $5.856 million Piedmont Wagner, the $3.599 million Garagiola Wagner and the newly sold $1.9825 million restored Sweet Caporal example among its recent multimillion-dollar sales.