• Honus Wagner Signed First Day Cover, 1939 Centennial FDC. Auto PSA 80
  • Honus Wagner Signed First Day Cover, 1939 Centennial FDC. Auto PSA 81
  • Honus Wagner Signed First Day Cover, 1939 Centennial FDC. Auto PSA 82
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BC Vintage

Honus Wagner Signed First Day Cover, 1939 Centennial FDC. Auto PSA 8

$5,495.00
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$5,495.00
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The Flying Dutchman!

An extraordinary piece of baseball history, offered here is a rare Honus Wagner signed First Day Cover, postmarked in Cooperstown on June 12, 1939 — the very day Wagner was formally inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame! One of the most important names from baseball’s earliest era, Wagner has signed the front of the envelope in bold black ink, adding “Pirates” beneath his autograph. Beautifully preserved more than 85 years later, the signature has been graded an impressive NM-MT 8 by PSA/DNA.

A First Day Cover — commonly referred to as an FDC — is an envelope bearing a newly issued postage stamp and officially postmarked on the stamp’s first day of release. Long before the modern autograph hobby took shape, collectors used commemorative covers as an ideal canvas for obtaining signatures from important figures, pairing the autograph with a stamp, date or historical event connected to its subject. Signed FDCs became a fascinating niche within autograph collecting, and surviving examples from baseball’s earliest Hall of Famers remain especially desirable.

The date and location of this particular cover could hardly be more significant. June 12, 1939 marked the official opening of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the first Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in history. Wagner had been elected three years earlier as a member of the legendary inaugural Class of 1936 alongside Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson, but it was on this day in 1939 that the Hall’s first four classes were formally honored. Wagner was among the 11 living Hall of Famers who traveled to Cooperstown for the historic occasion.

To commemorate Baseball’s Centennial and the opening of the Hall of Fame, the United States Post Office issued its three-cent Baseball Centennial stamp that same day. This cover bears that stamp with its coveted Cooperstown “FIRST DAY OF ISSUE” cancellation dated June 12, 1939 — tying the piece directly to one of the most important days in baseball history. The National Baseball Hall of Fame itself has described a Cooperstown postmark as the “gold standard” for baseball First Day Covers.

Few players are more synonymous with the origins of baseball greatness than “The Flying Dutchman.” An eight-time National League batting champion and one of the original five men selected for Cooperstown, Wagner remains one of the most coveted signatures in the hobby. Pairing his autograph with a First Day Cover postmarked in Cooperstown on the exact date of his historic Hall of Fame induction creates an exceptional intersection of baseball, postal and collecting history.

Authenticated and graded NM-MT 8 by PSA/DNA.

Ships FedEx/UPS/USPS with Insurance.

Honus Wagner Signed First Day Cover, 1939 Centennial FDC. Auto PSA 80
Honus Wagner Signed First Day Cover, 1939 Centennial FDC. Auto PSA 81
Honus Wagner Signed First Day Cover, 1939 Centennial FDC. Auto PSA 82