Historic Autographs Abraham Lincoln Auto - Should I Get it Graded and Re-Authenticated by PSA?

LaughForTheAftermath

I pulled an Abraham Lincoln cut signature from a 2019 Historic Autographs Civil War - Divided box. You can see the date of the autograph too, which is July 1st, 1864.

I'm obviously super psyched, but I'm not familiar with the "autographs" side of the hobby, so I would like some input regarding a few things:

1) Would the value go up if I got it Re-Authenticated by PSA/DNA or JSA? Is it worth the risk? (maybe PSA or JSA says it's not authentic, or it gets damaged during re-encapsulation, etc...)

2) If I decide to get it authenticated by PSA, should I also get the autograph and/or card graded? (The autograph is in great shape....very sharp and distinct). Would the value actually change that much relative to its grade? My opinion is that a 10 GEM MINT would increase the value, but anything lower wouldn't make a difference, or may actually decrease the value.

Any input, thoughts, or advice would be greatly appreciated!! The first two photos were taken in different lighting.

Horse

Whoa. It would be sooooooo cool to own a graded auto’d Friggin Abraham Lincoln card.

A 10 auto of the Linc would be priceless in coolness. But it looks pretty good as it sits. Daring to try.

And I actually Hate autograph collections Don’t trust sheeeeet for a reason.

ArtVandelay

That is super impressive.

If it were mine, I would keep it as is unless you find empirical evidence that placing this in a PSA holder will increase its worth substantially.

GreenSneakers

I’d leave as is. No reason to pay more, risk damage, etc. Beckett is reputable, I’m sure they have knowledge of provenance and wouldnt worry about authenticity.

LaughForTheAftermath

Ya, I'm definitely leaning more towards keeping it as is. I'm also not sure how the card is put together, nor how the cut signature is actually laid into the card....maybe the slab keeps everything in place....if you take it out, everything will just fall apart. My new mission is to figure out what kind of document it's cut out of. That might be impossible, but at least I have the date and some artwork below the signature to go off of.

doubledragon

Awesome card! I love Abraham Lincoln, and since we've got this thread here, I thought everyone might like to see this photo of Abraham Lincoln. It's not my photo, but it sends chills up my spine everytime I see it, because it is an actual moment in time captured by a photographer of Lincoln sitting with General George McClellan.

brad31

Wow that card is unbelievable. Congrats on a great pull.

pdub1819

@doubledragon said:
Awesome card! I love Abraham Lincoln, and since we've got this thread here, I thought everyone might like to see this photo of Abraham Lincoln. It's not my photo, but it sends chills up my spine everytime I see it, because it is an actual moment in time captured by a photographer of Lincoln sitting with General George McClellan.

Isn’t this the photo of when Lincoln fires McClellan?

doubledragon

@pdub1819 said:

@doubledragon said:
Awesome card! I love Abraham Lincoln, and since we've got this thread here, I thought everyone might like to see this photo of Abraham Lincoln. It's not my photo, but it sends chills up my spine everytime I see it, because it is an actual moment in time captured by a photographer of Lincoln sitting with General George McClellan.

Isn’t this the photo of when Lincoln fires McClellan?

I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised, because McClellan doesn't look to happy in the photo!

LaughForTheAftermath

Well, they never looked happy back then. The photograph is fantastic...the quality is great...you feel like you're actually there looking at them. I love that his top hat is seen next to him. Very very cool.

pdub1819

BTW... the auto is fantastic!

LaughForTheAftermath

I love that it's dated. It's very rare that a cut presidential auto will be dated. I've checked eBay, and none of the presidential cut autos have a date.

I emailed the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, IL, asking if an expert would know what kind of document it was cut out of. Daniel Worthington, who is the Director of Papers, emailed me back, saying this:

"_We have dozens of these in our database, including around ten from July 1, 1864. When an officer received a promotion, this form would be filled out. Lincoln tended to sign these with his full name instead of his normal "A. Lincoln." In many cases, the signatures were cut out of these documents. We only have one commission from July 1, 1864 with a clipped signature, but it does not match your clipping.

You could contact the National Archives in Washington, DC. They have a record group--RG 94, Entry 308--with most of the commissions that Lincoln signed. Connecting this clipping with the actual document, however, will be pretty difficult, unless you are willing to go through the entire record group.

Perhaps a better option would be to put this out on some Lincoln collector sites to see if anyone has a commission with a clipped signature from July 1, 1864._"

I did check out the National Archives' website, though I couldn't find any officer commissions in the group and entry numbers he gave me. I might be done researching this, since the value will only change if the officer promoted was a prominent figure, which is highly doubtful.

NGS428

Amazing card!