Lot 2. Honus Wagner Extremely Rare 1911-14 D304 Butter Krust Card Graded EX 5 by PSA. Cards promoting General Baking’s Butter Krust brand are among the rarest of all. PSA’s Population Report contains only 25 Butter Krust cards. This card is the only Honus Wagner example. According to the Population Report, only one (not Wagner) has ever been graded higher; it received a grade of EX + 5.5. This Butter Krust example is problem-free, featuring centering slightly toward the left and bottom, light touches on three corners, and slightly more wear on one. The colors are strong and bright. It is interesting to note that the Population Report lists 31 examples of the famous T206 Wagner card. This Butter Krust of one baseball’s greatest players stands alone.
Winning Bid $10,871
Lot 11. Honus Wagner Vintage Fountain Pen Autograph. Desirable, early gem mint 10 signature of one of the 10-15 best baseball players of all time. The signature, on a 3” x 4” section of paper, is perfect for matting and framing. It would go well with the original Wagner wedding photo described immediately below. This is the finest Wagner autograph we have offered. Kevin Keating authenticated the signature.
Winning Bid $862
Lot 12. Rare Sepia 1916 Wedding Photograph of Honus Wagner and Bessie Smith. Even Wagner’s granddaughter didn’t have a copy of this photo. An earlier owner made a copy of it for her. This 4” x 6” photo is the only known original from the wedding on Dec. 30, 1916. Wagner was 42, and Smith, 27. He had met her at least eight years earlier. Although rumors of their impending marriage were rampant, they managed to avoid reporters. They were married in a simple, private evening ceremony in Carnegie, Pa. The images could not be clearer or sharper. The photo is nm except for an inoffensive crease away from the Wagners in the lower right corner. The blank back has a couple of stains likely related to the photo-printing process. Definitely rare, and like unique!
Winning Bid $949
Lot 31. Rare 1915 “Baseball Magazine” with a Honus Wagner Premium. 31. Issued in February 1915, this “Boston Braves Issue” of “Baseball Magazine” includes a “Great Wagner Poster in Colors” from artwork by J. F. Kernan, a leading U.S. illustrator from the 1910s-40s. His artwork, often humorous, appeared on the covers of “The Saturday Evening Post” and in numerous advertisements. The Wagner premium is part of the magazine, printed on special paper between pages 64 and 65. If removed and framed, as suggested at the bottom, the premium would be about 6.5” x 9.75” and grade vg+ to ex. The magazine cover, which is detached, grades g-vg; the interior is ex.
Winning Bid $1,119
Lot 38. Honus Wagner 1941 Sepia 9.5” x 12” “Baseball Magazine” Poster Premium. Extremely nice vg-ex example so graded because of a couple of small, light creases. The appearance is ex-m. Made from a Charles M. Conlon photo, the premium identifies Wagner as “John Henry Wagner.”
Winning Bid $50
Lot 39. “Honor Honus” Wagner Original 1” Pin. Vg blue on white pin from a 1938 event honoring Wagner. It has a small dent, shows foxing along the rim and has rust on the back.
Winning Bid $61
Lot 40. Early Forbes Field Sepia Photograph with Honus Wagner. This 4”x 5” photo shows Forbes Field in its infancy. The exceptional view includes the grandstand behind third base and the left field bleachers. Seven members of the Pittsburgh Pirates are on the field. Five, including Wagner, are facing away from the camera. Four members of the opposing ball club are also on the field. Vg.
Winning Bid $125
Lot 41. Honus Wagner and Paul Waner Vintage Advertisements. In an 11” x 14” ad from the May 6, 1911 “Saturday Evening Post,” figures resembling Wagner and Ty Cobb promote Colgan’s Chips and the associated discs featuring major league baseball players. Tiny edge tears, ex appearance. Wagner’s card is shown in a 1910 ad, 2.5” x 4.5”, from an unknown source. A 1911 large ad without a baseball connection also features Colgan’s Chips. Pirates Hall of Fame outfielder Lloyd Waner is the focus of an 8” x 11.5” ad in which he endorses Lucky Strike Cigarettes. The ad is ex-m from the April 1928 “Hearst’s International-Cosmopolitan.”
Winning Bid $204
Lot 42. Vintage Honus Wagner 16” Mini Bat. Wagner’s name, as “J Honus Wagner,” is on the barrel of this bat, which has some dead wood on the back. From the 1950s or earlier.
Winning Bid $92
