A record-setting letter signed by 14 U.S. Presidents will soon go on sale in the open market, and the price tag is $175,000.
The historic letter is expected to make it to the Guinness World Records Book and has been autographed by almost every president since Herbert Hoover, according to TMZ. Autograph dealer Moments In Time is handling the sale of this unique document and is backing the letter’s authenticity.
Social Update: Letter Signed by 14 Presidents Up For Sale, Set Guinness World Record. Here’s a chance to get your hands on a historic item from the Guinness World Records Book … a letter signed by 14 U.S. Presidents is hitting the… https://t.co/mBdJ6ZHjqu #tmz #theartsandus pic.twitter.com/uAOS9kElKw
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The letter has been signed by everyone aside from John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden, and the story behind the incredibly valuable autographed page is a unique one. It all began when a man from Texas named Richard C. Corbyn wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt about a potential campaign stop in Arizona. Roosevelt wrote back and autographed the bottom of the letter before sending it back to Corbyn, according to TMZ.
Corbyn was only 18-years-old at the time. In 1962, nearly 30 years after receiving the initial signed letter, Corbyn realized the value of the document could be substantially increased if he were able to get the signatures of other presidents on it as well, TMZ noted. He then embarked on the mission to obtain more autographs from presidents.
Corbyn was soon able to get Dwight D. Eisenhower to sign the letter in 1962. He increased the value of the document in 1963 when Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson and Hoover signed the letter, according to TMZ.
Some time lapsed, and Corbyn attempted to obtain a signature from John F. Kennedy, but he was ultimately unable to secure it due to his assassination, TMZ noted.
Gerald Ford signed in 1975, and Corbyn was able to clinch a signature from Jimmy Carter in 1976, according to TMZ.
Signatures from Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush soon followed.
Clinton signed in 1993 and George W. Bush added his autograph to the document in 2002, per TMZ.
After seven years of persistence from Corbyn, Barack Obama agreed to sign in 2015. (RELATED: Historian Loses Engraved Card Filled With Eight POTUS And FLOTUS Signatures He Spent 30 Years Collecting)
Donald Trump was the last president to add his signature to the letter, in 2020, according to TMZ.
Biden’s signature does not appear.