1959 John F. Kennedy Signed and Encapsulated Check (PSA/DNA)

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2015

There is mystical and almost other worldly aura shrouding the legacy of former United States President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, perhaps it has something to do with him being the youngest man elected to the office, his movie-star-like good looks, his famous political family, his glamorous wife Jacqueline Bouvier and his reputed liaisons with Marilyn Monroe. Perhaps it has something to do with the remarkable period in world history during which he occupied the office of the presidency and the pivotal events taking place at the time; the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the establishment of the Peace Corps, the Space Race the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the country’s increasing involvement in the Viet Name War. Ultimately he is remembered most visibly for his tragic demise at the hands of an assassin in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. This magnificent memento of JFK’s remarkable life has its origins in the time just before he was elected to the country’s highest office, when he was still the charismatic 42-year-old junior Senator of the State of Massachusetts on the rise and still busy tending to the mundane tedium of his own personal responsibilities such as paying for a subscription to the daily newspaper; in this case writing check No. 2697 (the number 41 is also in the upper right hand corner) from his account at The First National City Bank of New York (BROADWAY AT 40TH STREET NEW YORK, N.Y.) in the amount of $11.70 on July 11, 1959. This 3 ¼” x 8 ¼” check No. 2697 has John F. Kennedy written vertically on its left-hand stub end and is written in someone else’s hand in blue ball point pen with JFK’s hand-written signature also in blue ballpoint pen applied on the endorsement line at the bottom right. The letter “B” is written in the traditional memo notation location on the left and most likely the initial of the secretary who wrote out the check. Light green check has been imprinted “Paid” on “8-6-59” and stamped in red “For Deposit in American Security and Trust Co. Washington D.C. To The Credit of The Washington Post and Times Herald The Washington Post Company AUG 4 -59” with two more deposit stamps containing August 5 and August 6 dates. The check is in nearly mint condition, has been kept in a protective plastic sleeve and comes with PSA/DNA LOA certification # W05833, as well as JSA LOA certification #Y48105 and SGC authentic COA #AU38698.