Wagner Baseball Card Goes for $1.62 Million

John Rogers calls it "the holy grail of baseball cards."

The Arkansas collector spent 1.62 million dollars for a 1909 Honus Wagner card at a memorabilia auction in Chicago Friday, saying it was the realization of a decades-long dream.

Wagner, a shortstop for Pittsburgh, was arguably the second-greatest baseball player of his era, behind Ty Cobb. He hit .344 during his rookie year of 1897, and batted over .300 for 17 consecutive seasons, winning eight National League batting titles.

The record price for a baseball card is 2.8 million. It was paid in 2007 for a near-mint condition 1909 Wagner card.

There are fewer than 100 Wagner baseball cards in existence, according to a spokeswoman for Mastro Auctions, and less than ten are in excellent condition.