Rarest American Autograph?

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There were fifty-six soon-to-be-Americans who signed off on the Declaration of Independence.

Don’t worry; this isn’t history class. We won’t ask you to name them all…

But we will ask you to guess the name of the signer whose NON- Declaration signature brings in more than $100,000.00 at auction!

It’s not who you think…not JohnHancock, TomJefferson or one of the Adams boys (John or Sam). It’s not even Ben Franklin.

Nope, it’s the hot-tempered Button Gwinnett, one of three Georgia dele- gates to the Continental Congress, whose autograph is in huge demand.

To collectors, an original ink-quilled Gwinnett signature would be valued only behind the likes of Julius Caesar and William Shakespeare, making his, by far, the most valuable American autograph in existence.

At last count, there were only 51 known examples of this early American’s autograph. The fiery Gwinnett died in a pistol duel less than a year after signing the Declaration. Then, most of his papers burned in a house fire ,so very few of his signatures exist.

A single Gwinett signature sold for $260,000 in 2017 at Christie’s Auction.

We know quite a few appraisers freelance writers and editors who’d like to be paid by the word this way!