The most valuable baseball card is a rare tobacco card issued by the American Tabacco Company in 1909 and known as T206 Honus Wagner. It was sold in a deal brokered by SCP Auctions of Mission Viejo, California, USA, to an anonymous collector for $2.8million (£1.37 million) and announced on 6 September 2007.

This sale occurred only six months after it was sold for a then-record breaking price of $2.35 million (£1.19 million).

John Peter ‘Honus’ Wagner (USA) was a Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop from 1900-1907.
The card is widely regarded as one of the rarest among collectors and is the finest known specimen of approximately 50 Wagner cards known to exist from the 1909 set. That set, known to collectors as the T206 set, is the most collected set of baseball cards ever. It is often referred to as ‘the Mona Lisa of all trading cards’.

Wagner was one of the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and is considered one of the greatest players in baseball. Wagner used his huge hands and long arms to patrol several defensive positions, most notably shortstop. “The Flying Dutchman” won eight National League batting titles and retired with more than 3,000 hits. Immensely popular, Wagner was the first player to have his signature on a Louisville Slugger bat. Like Ruth, Wagner garnered 215 votes in the first Hall of Fame balloting.