3) Joe Doyle 1909 T206 Nat’l card
Mistakes and misprints can guarantee a card’s popularity with collectors, and this T206 card featuring New York Highlanders pitcher ‘Slow’ Joe Doyle is no exception.
To prevent confusion between Joe and the National League pitcher Laughing Larry Doyle, the company included the abbreviation “Nat’l” for “National”. Unfortunately they included it on the wrong card, meaning a small number of Joe Doyle cards including the mistake slipped through.
Today just 6 – 9 examples are believed to exist, with an SG 50-graded card sold by Robert Edwards Auctions in 2009 for $329,000.
2) Babe Ruth 1914 Baltimore News card
Babe Ruth remains the most legendary name in baseball, and the man that arguably helped made the sport what it is today. One of his earliest appearances on a card is the 1914 Baltimore News card, which depicts Ruth as a 19-year old pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.
Around 12 examples of this card have been discovered, with an SCG 40 example the highest-graded ever sold. This became the second most valuable baseball car of all time when it was sold by Robert Edward Auctions in 2007 for $517,000.
1) Honus Wagner 1909 – 1911 T206 card
The most valuable and legendary card of all time is the Honus Wagner T206 card. Only a few hundred were ever printed (allegedly due to Wagner’s dislike of tobacco), and the most valuable PSA 8-graded example has passed through the hands of some of the hobby’s most notable collectors (including Wayne Gretsky).
Although not the rarest card in the world it is by far the most highly-prized, described as the “Mona Lisa” of baseball cards by many experts. And in September 2007 it set the current record when the PSA 8 example was sold by its then-owner Brian Seigel to an anonymous collector in a private sale worth $2.8 million.
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