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The T206 Honus Wagner may be the ‘holy grail’ for card collectors but there are numerous Wagner cards that are far rarer. Case in point: the E125 1910 American Caramel die-cuts. One of only six graded Wagner cards showing the Flying Dutchman in a batting pose is among thousands of cards being offered in the Heritage Auctions Fall Sports Catalog Auction.
Measuring about 7” x 4”, the card was part of a set that included over 40 subjects, not all of which were baseball players.
American Caramel produced a variety of trading cards but in this case, they went a bit off the traditional grid with the die-cut cards that were distributed with the company’s Action Picture caramels. The cards are so rare, they weren’t really known to most card collectors until the 1960s.
The cards are colorful and came with a stand so they could be displayed as if “in action.”
The Wagner card offered by Heritage is graded SGC 1 but because of the nature of the product and its fragile nature, it’s rare to find any with high technical grades. Only six Wagner “batting” variations have been examined by SGC and PSA combined.
Players from four teams were part of the set—all eastern franchises, including the New York Giants, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Wagner’s Pirates, who won the 1909 World Series. Members of the Pirates are referred to as “Champion of the World” on the backs, which also include a team checklist.
Wagner and Tris Speaker have both batting and fielding poses and the batting pose wasn’t known until one was uncovered many years later.
The backs of some cards in the set indicate they were patented in July 2010 while others say only that a patent had been applied for. The name “P.R. Warren Company” of Lowell, MA is also listed on the back, which likely means they were responsible for production of the cards that would up being distributed by the candy company.
Auction bidding runs through Sept. 29.
