A baseball card the size of an adult's palm is attracting attention as it is sold for about 7.7 billion won in Korean money.
On the 16th local time, foreign media such as CNN in the United States reported that the 'T206 Honus Wagner' card was sold for $6.6 million (about 7.7 billion won) at an online auction held under the supervision of Robert Edward Auction on the same day, breaking the record for a sports card auction. I did.
Previously, the most expensive card ever traded was the MLB (MLB) New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle's card.
The Mantle Card, issued in 1952, sold for $5.2 million in January.
The Wagner card, which was put up for auction this time, was sold at a price about 1 billion won higher than this, breaking the record for the highest price.
According to CNN, the T206 Wagner card, measuring 5 cm by 7.6 cm, was put in a pack of cigarettes by an American tobacco company between 1909 and 1911.
At that time, the tobacco company issued more than 500 cards without Honus Wagner's consent, and Wagner found out about this and requested a recall, saying he did not want the cards to be used for cigarettes harmful to children.
Only 50 of these cards are known to remain.
Buyers flocked to the world's rarest card to be auctioned off. The starting price of the auction, which was 1 million dollars (about 1.1 billion won), soared to seven times the price.
After fierce bidding, the Wagner card was returned to a collector in the eastern United States.
The auctioneer explained, "People seem to be intrigued by the long wait to get the rare and legendary Wagner card."
Wagner is a Pittsburgh Pirates legend, considered the best shortstop in MLB history. Debuting in 1897 and playing for 21 seasons, he recorded a career batting average of 0.329 and won the batting title eight times.
The first inductee into the Hall of Fame in 1936, he passed away in 1955.
This is a 'news pick'.
(Photo='Robert Edward Auctions' website, Twitter)