What to do with rare signed presidential historical documents?

@Hausfrau, Yes, I did come across it. Made my heart skip a beat. Actually called Raab, but they were less than forthcoming and wouldn’t give much information over the phone. They told us they usually buy object outright, then resell them, rather than putting them up for auction and splitting the proceeds.

Thanks for the link.

Just thought I’d post an update on the historical documents I found. I sent them off this past Friday to Skinner Auctions to be included in an Early American auction they have scheduled for the fall. Their estimates were lower than I expected, $3000 – $5000 for all, but you can never be sure with auctions. I felt that I might get a bit more for it using Skinner’s connections to the collecting community. They take a 30% cut for their service.

I found a few other interesting objects in the trunk after my initial posting here. I found a check in the truck dated 1794 signed by George Washington. I got REAL excited by that one and got an initial estimate of $5000 – $6000. Unfortunately, that one turned out to be a forgery. 🙁 Still interesting, though, as it was done by a notorious forger named Robert Spring in the 1860’s. Should still be worth a few hundred due to his status as one of America’s first great forgers.

Another cool check in the box was a check for $60,000 dated 1807, written to a John and Robert Oliver. They were wealthy merchants in Baltimore. There is even a book written about Robert named “Merchant of Baltimore”. That $60K check would be $1,380,000 in today’s dollars.

Here is the Washington check. I currently have it listed on eBay for $997.95 or best offer.

https://imgur.com/a/GQxyl6n?

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Lukastreasure.

Hi Jay,

I have a high confidence in the authenticity of the John Black documents as they came with letters to and from John Black and the ancestor of the most previous owner. I included these with the items to support the provenance. Skinner is a very reputable auction house and they will do a bit of due diligence as well before risking their reputation.

They wouldn’t even take the Washington check because they didn’t want their house associated with a forgery.

For the sake of anyone who might fall into the same situation, I thought I should share the ultimate outcome of the auction. To cut to the end, the final sale prices didn’t quite meet my expectations and I’d probably guide others to stick with eBay and take the risk of selling direct. I sold 4 items from the box at the auction for a selling price of $2925. Skinner took 30%, so I ended up with roughly $2000.

I allowed my fear of being somehow swindled by a buyer on eBay lead me to reduce the risk and reward by working with an auction house. I convinced myself that selling with a reputable auction house would possibly get me more because they have a direct line on the “real” collectors. So, a little greed was at play as well. The reality, as we’ve learned from eBay auctions, is that if the buyers aren’t there that day, then your item won’t get top dollar.

Now, for some perspective, I did only pay $35, so I can’t complain too much, but I will certainly do differently if I’m ever so fortunate again. I also sold the George Washington forgery this week on eBay for $974.95. So, it didn’t make me rich, but I’m doing OK and I learned some valuable lessons.