Even if you're not a sports fan, the notoriety of this card is such that you have probably heard of it, even in passing.
Honus Wagner "The Flying Dutchman" (we don't have enough cool nicknames anymore) was a shortstop in the early 1900's almost exclusively for the Pittsburgh Pirates. When the Baseball Hall of Fame opened in 1936, Wagner was one of the first 5 inductees. He won 8 batting titles as well as having several records for stolen bases.
The T206 card, shown above was issued between 1909 and 1911. Only 200 were made and only 60 were ever distributed by the American Tobacco Company. Wagner refused to endorse the card and insisted that his image not be associated with smoking, the reason for such a limited run. Here's the Canadian connection. In 1991 after being sold several times, the most famous of all the T206 cards, was bought by Wayne Gretzky for $451,000. It has subsequently been sold several times over the last two decades, the last time in April of 2011 for an astounding 2.8 million dollars.
Tomorrow, the numero uno, the penultimate, the acme, the primo, the..well you get the idea: the most valuable spo
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