Million Dollar Cigarette Card

I've been collecting and selling collectors cards and cigarette cards for over twenty years. Before you read this guide please subscribe to my card collecting newsletters for updates on rare cards and tips on buying by Clicking Here, thank you.

The start of the millennium was very memorable for the cigarette card world. A Honus Wagner cigarette card, the "holy grail" of baseball cards, fetched a record $1.27 million on eBay, becoming the first card ever to exceed a million dollars. The buyer, Brian Siegel, paid almost double what the previous owner, Michael Gidwitz, had bought it for four years earlier, making it one of the most expensive items to be sold on eBay.

This legendary card was originally issued in the American Tobacco Company's T206 set in 1909. It was to be inserted in packets of cigarettes. Legend has it that the baseball player Honus Wagner objected to having his name and image associated with smoking. It is believed that only 50-60 cards were ever produced.

Honus Wagner was a Major League Baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

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