I'm sort of surprised to see this question here. Other sites it would be less of a surprise.
Basically, it's from one of the most popular sets ever. Part of that popularity is availability, someones first prewar card is often a T206. Another part of that popularity is the Honus Wagner card.
A bit of the rest is that the Plank T206 is far from common. Using the population reports however flawed gives at least a rough idea. Wagners - 46 from PSA/SGC combined. Plank - 101 combined. Magie - 177 combined.
The three things that make for a valuable card or any other collectible for that matter are - A great subject, just enough rarity to matter, and a good story. Plank is certainly rare enough, and for years the story was that the card was rare because the printing plate broke. (It might actually be that the story about the Wagner card is actually about Plank. ) He's hardly an unheard of player, he may not get the attention of a Cobb or Wagner, but he was a great player. Only a small handful of players will continue to have an overall public popularity at a high level for a century or more.
Now a better question is whether the rarity, popularity and value of the T206 has made the rest of Planks cards more valuable. I'd say that's probably true for some of those cards.
Steve B
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