How Many T206 Wagners Are there?

[Cardboard Junkie]

Aloha! I know of at least 8 T206 Wagners in private collections that are not graded. I think a few in museums, libraries, etc, are raw too. Does anyone know the combined population of third party graded ones? I'm guessing the total is just over 100 maybe more considering those that haven't been "discovered" yet. Some Opinions? Dave.

[Wayne]

The last I heard was 54 known to exist

That was from a Beckett mag from several years ago.

[vintagecpa]

I've read the number is estimated at around 100 known examples. It isn't exactly the scarce card it was once thought to be.

[barrysloate]

Maybe 60-75.

[sago]

Along these lines, how many do you think were printed? If 1% of all T-206's survived, do you think they printed somewhere between 5,000-10,000 Wagners? Could the Wagner have survived at a higher rate than the average card?

[atx840]

31 listed here, I would think several more unknown or held privately.

http://www.centuryoldcards.com/1909t206wagners.html

[rdixon1208]

There are 68 on ebay right now :)

[E93]

I would guess 60-70.
JimB

[E93]

A little simple math can be insightful here. Let's say there are 60 in the hobby and approximately 2 change hands per year on average. That would mean that the average Wagner is held by its owner for 30 years on average. If there were 100 and 2 sell per year on average, that would mean the average Wagner is held by its owner for 50 years. I don't think that is the case.
JimB

[terjung]

I've heard the range as somewhere between 60 and 100 for quite some time and have never heard anything to contradict that. I realize that is a broad range, but it seems like every estimate I hear is between those two numbers. So, either everybody is quoting the same source or it is credible.

Count me as one who prefers his undervalued, single-digit pop rookie card instead. :D

[Wayne]

Update. I just looked up in the 2009 Beckett almanac. their is only an estimated 50-60 copies of the card known to exist. I will see if I can get a scan of the article for you

I tried to scan what I saw but I can blow it up in my image but wont stay in photobuckett.

I will give you a direct link to the scan I took and if you know how to blow it up you can see what I see

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/ad76/waynea432/vintage/honus.jpg

[bbcard1]

My WAG would be 100...60 or so known, 15 that will be unearthed in the next couple of decades...seems like you rarely got a year that someone doesn't find one somewhere...and 25 that are in private collections but the owners don't publicize that they have one.

[E93]

..and 25 that are in private collections but the owners don't publicize that they have one.

I believe there were something like a dozen known as recently as 1970. When new examples were found, the finds were generally well known and accounted for in the hobby. I'm sure there are many buried in old collections and most don't know where they are now, but that does not mean they are not accounted for in hobby totals. My guess is that it is not correct that 30-40% of the known copies in the hobby were found by grandma, sold directly to a collector, and never re-sold or accounted for in the hobby, which is what I believe you are suggesting here.

For example, let's say a new find of an example was made in 1975 and sold through The Trader Speaks. Let's say I bought it and have had it ever since. If I am private, it may be the case that nobody knows that I have it today. But that does not mean that the example was not accounted for in 1975 and did not bring the known total at the time from 19 to 20, or whatever the number may have been then. I believe long-time hobby experts were keeping fairly accurate running totals as new examples were discovered. The same is true for Ty Cobb backs, Baltimore Ruths, etc.
JimB