Baseball legend for sale

Mona Lisa of baseball trading cards

The most famous US Major League Baseball trading card is up for sale on the internet and it could fetch $1m.

The card, not much bigger than a large postage stamp, dates back to 1909 and features Pittsburgh Pirates player Honus Wagner, considered by many to be baseball's greatest all-round player.

Current owner Michael Gidwitz, a sports memorabilia collector from Chicago, bought the card for $650,000 in 1996.

Michael Gidwitz: Laughing all the way to the bank

The card has a 50-50 chance of breaking the $1m barrier according to Dan Flanagan, executive vice president of auctioneers Mastronet.

"It has always been the most desirable item that a baseball card collector could aspire to own," he said.

Previous owners have included ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky, who bought it in 1991, selling it four years later for $500,000. The card is known as the "Gretzky example" and has been described as the Mona Lisa of trading cards.

Honus Wagner

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop

Major League career began 1897

National League batting champion for 8 seasons

Among first five players in Baseball Hall of Fame

The card will be auctioned from 5 -15 July on the internet auction site eBay. Bidding will start at $500,000 and go up in increments of $50,000.

The card was issued in a promotion by the American Tobacco Company in 1909 in packets of its Piedmont cigarettes. But Honus Wagner, nicknamed The Flying Dutchman, was adamantly anti-smoking and the cards were quickly withdrawn.

Only 50 - 60 cards were ever printed and of those only a handful were sold to the public.