A Button Gwinnett signature is set to auction at Christie’s next month.
It will sell as part of the collection of the Eric Caren archive, one of the world’s largest holdings of historic documents.
Button Gwinnett's signature is extremely rare
It’s valued at $100,000-150,000 ahead of the June 15 sale in New York.
While you may never have heard of him, Gwinnett is one of the world’s most sought after autographs.
That’s because he was one of the original signatories of Declaration of Independence.
For collectors looking to acquire a complete set of autographs from the signatories, Gwinnett is very much the Holy Grail.
This is because he wasn’t well known in his own time and died in a duel shortly after the Declaration was signed, making his signature extremely rare.
Christie’s explains: “Gwinnett’s signature, perceived as rare since the era of [19th century manuscript collector] Lyman Draper and the earliest collectors of the Signers, has become increasingly so in the last three decades, as many complete sets of the 56 Signers have passed into permanent institutional collections…
“It is highly unlikely that any additional previously unrecorded Gwinnett letters or documents will come to light.
“Since 1980, only six other examples of Gwinnett’s signature have been offered individually at auction.”
The record is $600,000, paid for a 1776 letter signed by him and several members of the Marine Committee of Congress.
We have a great selection of autographs for sale, click here to take a look.
The sale will also feature a set of rosary beads that JFK gave to an old friend.
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