A baseball card of Pirates legend Honus Wagner sold for a record-shattering $6.6 million on Monday.
Bidding on the “Holy Grail” sports card started at $1 million on July 23 before ballooning to $2.8 million that day, according to Robert Edward Auctions based in New Jersey. The final price of over $6.6 million blew the previous record of $5.2 million for a sports card out of the water, ESPN reported.
There are only about 50 T206 cards of the legendary Pirates shortstop known to exist, among the set of more than 500 cards released from 1909-1911 by the American Tobacco Co. Wagner’s is considered the rarest find because he demanded the company stopped using his likeness to market tobacco to children, per Trib Live.
On the back of the card sold Monday, there is an advertisement for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes.
Wagner played in MLB for 21 seasons from 1897 to 1917, all but the first three with the Pirates. He won eight batting titles and batted .300 or better for 17 consecutive seasons.
Wagner, who passed away at the age of 81 in 1955, was one of five players inducted into the Hall of Fame in its inaugural class of 1936.