The last check President Abraham Lincoln wrote, dated April 13, 1865, the day before he was shot, was found recently tucked away in a store room at the Huntington Bank in Cleveland.
Other checks were also found that included signatures of Charles Dickens, Thomas Edison, George Washington, and other politicians. The checks are now a part of a display at a new Huntington Bank Branch in Brooklyn, Ohio, and will soon be on display at other Huntington Banks around Ohio and West Virginia.
Auction news
- A 1915 Prototype Coca Cola bottle, along with the original sketch drawing of it, sold recently through Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles. The bottle sold for $240,000. The pencil sketch drawing of the bottle sold for $228,000.
- A 10-inch tall decorated stoneware jug with two handles was recently found hidden in a closet in California. The $138,000 find turned out to be a memorial for Benjamin Herrington, a potter who drowned in 1823.
- A Wayne Gretzky rookie card, in mint condition, recently sold at auction for $94,163, making it the highest price ever paid for a modern hockey card.
- A bronze Chinese cannon, covered with designs and words and stored for over 80 years in the back of a storeroom, sold recently for $149,500 at auction.
- A folk art painting of Abigail Rose sold at auction for a record $1,271,000, breaking the previous record for an American folk art painting of $1,248,000.
Auction prices realized
- Marietta newspapers, 1870 through February 1871 bound newspapers, $99.
- Whipple Creamery Company, quart milk bottle, $20.
- Postcard 1913 Locks Tender House, Marietta, flooded, $16.50.
- Book, "Cemetery Inscriptions," $16.50.
- Milk bottle, pint, Marietta Ohio Dairy Association, $10.50.
- Token, brass, good for 5 cents at Grant Livermore, pool room, Marietta, $5.
- 1910 Washington County highway map, $26.
Larry Koon is the author of several price guide books on antiques and collectibles. His column appears every Monday on Life. Send letters to Treasure in the Attic, c/o The Marietta Times, 700 Channel Lane, Marietta 45750; or e-mail him at koonantiques@yahoo.com. When writing, send a complete description of the item. Letters will be answered through this column.
