Honus Wagner Rookie?

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Posted By: Richard

Greetings, I am very interested to get some opinions on the true rookie card of the great Pittsburg shortstop Honus Wagner. I would love to get some input from my fellow pre-war collectors. I look forward to some opinions on this question.
Thank You

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Posted By: Jon Canfield

I should probably defer to the experts on the board but I was under the impression his "rookie" card would be considered the 1897/99 Henry Reccius Cigar card...

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Posted By: Brian (Shammus)

Hi Richard,

A lot of people mistake his rookie for the t206 funny enough! But many consider the cutout of Wagner from Reccius Cigar boxes to be his rookie. Not sure how many there are of this item in existence...I hear only one or two. Others don't really count the Reccius as his rookie as I believe it is a cutout so his "rookie" would then be the e107. Hope this helps....

[Archive]

Posted By: Brian (Shammus)

Hi Richard,

A lot of people mistake his rookie for the t206 funny enough! But many consider the cutout of Wagner from Reccius Cigar boxes to be his rookie. Not sure how many there are of this item in existence...I hear only one or two. Others don't really count the Reccius as his rookie as it is being cut out of something like a strip card so his "rookie" would then be the e107. Hope this helps....

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Posted By: Halleygator

In my opinion, his rookie card is the E107 Bresich-Williams card from 1903, since it was widely distributed.

The Louisville card is a minor league card and apparently was not distributed in bulk.

Then again ... for these same reasons ... I would rather own the ONLY known example of the Louisville card than one of his from the E107 set!

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Posted By: petecld

Since Hans hadn't hit the major leagues when the Reccius Cigar box came out I don't see how it can it be his rookie. Definitely his first card but not a true rookie card in my book.

Honus Wagner rookie - E107

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Posted By: Paul

Louisville was a major league team when Wagner played with them. I believe they merged with Pittsburgh in 1900. So, I don't think you can discount the Reccius card just because it shows Wagner with Louisville. Wagner's rookie card should show him with Louisville, since that was his first major league team.

I had never before heard that the Reccius card was cut out of a cigar label. If that's the case, I have to agree that the E107 is his first true card and therefore his rookie card, or the closest thing to his rookie card.

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Posted By: petecld

Paul,

Thank you, I stand corrected. I thought Louisville was part of the National Association which were teams that weren't considered to be part of the Major Leagues. This is why I stick to 20th century stuff.

Still, if it is just a portion of a cigar label then I still don't consider it a legitimate card.