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Posted By: Rob D.

Today I was browsing through a Mastro & Steinbach auction catalog from August 1997 and couldn't help but chuckle when I came upon the page below, No. 130, buried in the middle of the catalog. Where to start?

Four cards -- a T206 Wagner, T206 Magie error, T206 Ty Cobb and T206 Demmit error -- all on one page. Notice the brevity of the descriptions! These days a 1952 common in a PSA 8 holder receives more of a flowery write-up than this Wagner got. Also, none of these four were graded at the time of sale. (There are plenty of other cards in the catalog in PSA holders.) Oh, and no photos of the backs! I've read the description a few times on the Cobb, and I'm assuming it's a common back. But in comparing the prices realized, I'm not so sure.

This catalog is only 11 years old; how times have changed in a relatively short period of time.

Prices realized (I do not know if these include the buyer's penalty, which for this sale was 15 percent, but I'm guessing because of the odd figures, they do.):

Wagner -- $42,093
Magie -- $4,035
Cobb -- $1,378
Demmitt -- $2,221