115-Year-Old ‘Holy Grail’ Baseball Card Goes for Auction with Estimated Value of $3 Million or More

One of the rarest baseball cards in history is currently up for auction with an estimated value of $3 million

The card — a T206 Honus Wagner — features the late Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, who died in 1996 at 81

The card was manufactured between 1909 and 1911 and distributed in cigarette packs before being pulled from production; copies of it have sold at auction for more than $6 million in the past

One of the rarest baseball cards in history — a T206 Honus Wagner — is currently up for auction, and it's estimated to fetch a price of $3 million or more.

At least 115 years old, the card features late Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner and is up for auction through Heritage Auctions . According to the listing, it has been authenticated by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and has a value of over $3 million. The current bid on Thursday, Oct. 8, is nearing $1 million.

Known as the T206 Honus Wagner, or "Connecticut Wagner," the card was produced by the American Tobacco Company between 1909 and 1911 and distributed inside cigarette packs before being pulled from production.

Only 53 verified copies of the card are known to exist, according to The Athletic . Of those, 10 were graded a PSA 1 grading, meaning that they are determined to be in "Poor" condition.

Thanks to the card's rarity, it's been referred to as the "Holy Grail of all trading cards" by PSA on its website.

Exactly why the card is so rare has never been confirmed. One theory, according to PSA, is that Wagner, who died in 1995 at age 81, objected to profiting from his likeness. Another theory is that he did not want his name associated with tobacco products.

Regardless, the scarcity of the card has made the T206 Honus Wagner one of the most valuable pieces of sports memorabilia in history.

On Aug. 16, 2021, one of the cards sold for $6.606 million, setting a record for the most expensive sports card ever purchased, per USA Today . That record stood until August 2025 , when a 2007–08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autograph card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant sold for $12.932 million through Heritage Auctions.

In February, The Athletic reported that a PSA-graded 1 T206 Honus Wagner card sold for $5.1 million.

According to the outlet, the card was passed down to brothers Dennis and Douglas Shields, who inherited it from their grandfather Morton Bernstein. Bernstein pulled the card from a cigarette pack while working at a silver manufacturing plant and started collecting trading cards in the early 1900s.

"My brother and I have held on to these for years," Dennis told the outlet. "It isn't for monetary issue; but it was the sentimental value that our grandfather held on to these things all his life, and we held on to them just because we love him."

After more than a century in the family, the brothers ultimately put the card up for sale through Goldin Auctions.

"I've never been able to trace a Wagner that has stayed in only one family since the day the card came out," Ken Goldin, CEO and founder of Goldin Auctions, told the outlet at the time. "The (Shieldses') care and respect for their grandfather's collection — carefully looked after behind closed doors for 116 years — has preserved one of the hobby's true grails, and the importance of this cannot be overstated."