BALTIMORE - As soon as collector Doug Walton heard about a rareHonus Wagner baseball card that had been bequeathed to an order ofRoman Catholic nuns, he told himself he had to have it.
So Walton put in a bid that far exceeded the amount offered byother potential buyers.
Walton, of Knoxville, Tenn., will pay $262,000 for the card,which was auctioned off this week by the Baltimore-based SchoolSisters of Notre Dame. Proceeds from the sale will benefit theorder's ministries for the poor in 35 countries.
The price exceeded the expectations of auctioneers at Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries, who had predicted it would fetchbetween $150,000 and $200,000.
Walton, 35, who owns seven sports card stores in the Southeast,said the story behind the card motivated him to make a generousoffer.
'To be honest with you, we probably paid a little bit more thanwe should have,' he said Friday. 'But with the back story, and thefact that it's going to a really good charity, to us it just seemedworth it.'
The Wagner card, produced as part of the T206 series between 1909and 1911, is the most sought-after baseball card in history. About60 are known to exist, and one in near-perfect condition sold in2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card.
A shortstop nicknamed 'The Flying Dutchman,' Wagner played for 21seasons, 18 of them with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He compiled a .328career batting average and was one of the five original inducteesinto baseball's Hall of Fame.
The School Sisters of Notre Dame inherited their card from thebrother of a deceased nun after he died earlier this year. The cardhad been in the man's possession since 1936 and was unknown to thesports memorabilia marketplace.
Although the card is in poor condition, that didn't deter Walton.He said the high bid was $180,000 when he put in his first and onlybid Thursday afternoon - for $225,000. The final sale price ended upat $220,000, plus a $42,000 buyer's premium.
Walton said he bought it to honor his uncle, from whom heinherited the chain of card stores. Christopher Walton, who died in2004, claimed to have owned a T206 Wagner card in the 1930s.
'He doesn't know what happened to it, and it was his dream to getanother one of those cards back - in any condition,' Walton said. 'Ifeel like me acquiring this card is continuing his legacy. ... Hereferred to it as the Mona Lisa. He was so sad about it.'
Sister Virginia Muller, the former treasurer of the order who wasentrusted with the card, said in a statement that she was thankfulfor the support she has received since word spread that the orderwas selling it.
AP photo
