Nuns put Honus Wagner card on auction
Sister Virginia Mueller may not be a stringent follower of baseball but she learned quickly what it was when she found a Honus Wagner card in a donation. She has learnt about the player through her constant visits to the baseball
collectors and now she is determined to do away with the item hoping it will fetch a value that will contribute to the cause of the Baltimore based, School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Though the card’s condition is weak, the sisters are auctioning off the item and are hoping that the treasure will fetch between $150,000 and $200,000 when the bidding ends. The proceeds from the sale will go to ministries scattered
across 35 countries. The card belongs to a T206 series which was manufactured between 1909 and 1911. There are about 60 of the kind, in the world and Sister Mueller is holding on to one of them. An identical card was sold in 2007 and it fetched a price of
$2.8 million, making that the most expensive card to be sold in history.
The brother of Sister Mueller donated his belongings to the ministry after he passed away in 1999. His lawyer then told Mueller about the card lying in the safe deposit box. When the item was retrieved there was a typewritten note
that emphasized on the value of the card if it were held beyond the 20th century. Sister Mueller commented on the card with: “It just boggles your mind. I can't remember a time when we have received anything like this.”
The card may be in poor condition but it will be able to generate a good value if sold. Director of Sports auctions at the Heritage Auction Galleries, Chris Ivy believes so: “The T206 set is known as 'The Monster' among collectors.
It's just really tough to complete the entire set. The Wagner card is "one of those that's always sought-after, always desirable, and there's not a big population of them. Even in a lower grade, they do have quite a bit of demand and command a strong price.”
The auction will end on the 4th of November and the card’s latest bid was at $60,000 on Wednesday morning.
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