NEWPORT — More questions have been raised about a Honus Wagner baseball card that an anonymous seller from Cincinnati tried to sell on an Internet auction site for $1.7 million.

James Kidney bought these two antique baseball cards, along with a Honus Wagner card, at a garage sale in Fort Thomas. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Attorney James Kidney has told Newport police he thinks the card might be one of three tobacco cards he bought at a Fort Thomas garage sale several years ago for $5. He said his law partner, whose father is a retired sportswriter, and a cousin, who sells antiques, both think his Honus Wagner card — which appears to be a rare Piedmont tobacco card — was a fake.

        Mr. Kidney said the Wagner card disappeared from his desk inside his 10th Street law office five to eight months ago. He didn't bother to report the apparent theft until Aug. 16, when he learned a Cincinnati resident was trying to sell a familiar-looking card on the Internet auction site eBay.

        The Honus Wagner card was one of four Mr. Kidney bought at the garage sale. He still has two tobacco cards and one Cracker Jack card he bought there.

        “I'm not trying to accuse anyone of stealing my card,” Mr. Kidney said. “But I do think it is coincidental that an anonymous seller from the Cincinnati area puts a Honus Wagner card up for sale shortly after mine disappears. I have a moral obligation to tell potential buyers that if it is my card, it is probably a fake.”

        Joe Orlando, vice president of California-based Professional Sports Authenticator, a certification company that has graded more than 11 million cards including 19 Wagner cards, said there are several “red flags” raised about the Wagner card in question.

        “No one knows exactly how many Honus Wagner cards are out there,” he said. “It is considered the most valuable card in the world. When you have a card this valuable, people are going to produce a lot of counterfeits.”

        Mr. Orlando questioned why someone trying to sell the rarest of all baseball cards would not get the proper authentication by a reputable company.

        EBay halted the high-stakes auction July 31 until the card's authenticity could be confirmed.

        The card had not gone back up for auction by Thursday, and eBay representatives did not return phone calls.

        Only a few tobacco cards were distributed with Mr. Wagner's image because, as one story goes, he opposed tobacco use. Only one other Piedmont-backed Wagner tobacco card is known to exist. It sold for $1.265 million in 2000.

        Ray Edwards of Madisonville is representing the seller, who wished to remain anonymous. Mr. Miller has previously said that his client bought the card from an estate collector in the mid-1970s for $1,800

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