T-206 Info

Honus Wagner and the T206 cards:  The Honus Wagner T206 baseball card was included in a 523 card set issued by the American Tobacco Company between 1909 and 1911 to promote its various brands of cigarettes, including Sweet Caporal and Piedmont.  The front of the card portrays, Honus Wagner, the celebrated Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop who strung together seventeen consecutive .300 seasons, and stole 722 lifetime bases.  Later a Pirates manager, Wagner, together with Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, was among the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  His T206 card became an overnight rarity when Wagner stopped its production, some say because he wanted a bigger promotional fee.  Also in the movie Honus and Me, Wagner tells a different story of why the card is rare.  His heirs say he didn’t want children buying and smoking cigarettes to get his picture.  Whatever the reason, the trading card industry says only 50 to 60 Wagner T206 cards now exist, most backed with a Sweet Caporal ad on the back and only three featuring a Piedmont back.