August 6, 2020: Summer Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/6/2020
Remarkable autographed card of future President John F. Kennedy, signed while U.S. Senator from The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, c.1957. As was the custom at the time, autograph collectors would request signatures of politicians through the mail. Many politicians had special cards produced, specifically to answer those requests. Offered is an embossed JOHN F. KENNEDY, UNITED STATES SENATE card, boldly signed in black ink John F. Kennedy, U S Senate - Mass. by the then 38-year-old Senator. The autograph itself is spectacular, with a bold, fluid movement, while exhibiting a textbook example of Kennedy’s “fishhook” signature (a variation which definitively dates it to the mid-late 1950s). Beyond the nearly flawless signature, is the incredible rarity of the signature itself. John F. Kennedy was one of the first to use the machine known as the auto-pen, leaving the signing of his tens of thousands of autograph requests to the repetition of a machine. Therefore, the vast majority of all John F. Kennedy signatures are in fact auto-pen with only a fraction of those letters and documents bearing an authentic signature from his hand. Authentically signed, non-personalized individual cards (like the offered example) are basically non-existent. The bold, black signature is a stunning “9/10”, and the creamy white card is in overall EX-MT condition with only a staple hole in the upper left corner preventing it from being Near Mint. Basically one of the finest examples of an authentic John F. Kennedy signature extant. 4 ½ x 3 ½ in. Arrives slabbed by BAS with the signature graded "9."
Stunning John F. Kennedy Signed U.S. Senate Card (Graded BAS 9)
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