Only a few dozen T206 Wagners are known to still exist, having been
released in limited numbers just after the turn of the twentieth
century. Most, with their creases and stains, look like they've been
around for nearly one hundred years. But one--The Card--appears to have
defied the travails of time. Its sharp corners and still-crisp portrait
make it the single-most famous--and most desired--baseball card on the
planet, valued today at more than two million dollars. It has
transformed a simple hobby into a billion-dollar industry that is at
times as lawless as the Wild West. Everything about The Card, which has
made men wealthy as well as poisoned lifelong relationships, is fraught
with controversy--from its uncertain origins to the nagging possibility
that it might not be exactly as it seems.
In this intriguing, eye-opening, and groundbreaking look at a uniquely
American obsession, award-winning investigative reporters Michael
O'Keeffe and Teri Thompson follow The Card's trail from a Florida flea
market to the hands of the world's most prominent collectors. The Card
sheds a fascinating new light on a world of counterfeiters, con men, and
the people who profit from what used to be a pastime for kids.