(shown above, an American flag flown at the White House for two decades; sold at auction for $22,689.)

Auction results: February, feat. US Presidents

RR’s February Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction featuring US Presidents saw passionate collectors of presidential ALSs (Autographed Letter, Signed) bidding on some highly rare historical artifacts. Here are the auction results.

Despite aggressive bidding competitions for our near-complete set of presidential ALSs, it was instead a family heirloom that garnered the top spot in the auction results. A red swatch of fabric off the doomed Hindenburg airship sold for $36,282. The consignor’s grandmother – then a young teen at the event with her sisters and father, who was to be part of the Hindenburg landing crew that day – snatched the scrap from the wreckage at the unforgettable historic disaster:

There was plenty of Hail to the Chief, however, as autographed letters signed while in-office by US presidents yielded several great auction results. The top item was an ALS from LBJ, a letter to the wife of his Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, which achieved $27,455. George W. Bush and Richard Nixon also landed in the top five, while a unique land grant signed by Abraham Lincoln went for $15,496.

Another exceptional presidential artifact did well: An American flag (shown above) that was in service at the White House for 20 years – from Nixon to Reagan – took third spot with a sale price of $22,689.

International items also hit the top 10. A signed photograph of influential Chinese reformist leader Deng Xiaoping went for $14,323; a DS (Document, Signed) from Marie Antoinette garnered $13,316; and Scottish moral professor and political economist Adam Smith’s signature yielded $13,316.

There were also several Olympics-related items, which surely saw attention with the PyeongChang Winter Games opening today. The top item in that category was a St. Louis 1904 Summer Olympics Official’s Participation Medal, which sold for $20,212.

Top 10 items sold

Hindenburg flown fabric swatch, sold for $36,282

Lyndon B. Johnson – ALS, sold for $27,455

White House flag, sold for $22,689

George W. Bush – ALS, sold for $22,689

Richard M. Nixon – ALS, sold for $20,626

St. Louis 1904 Summer Olympics Official’s Participation Medal, sold for $20,212

Abraham Lincoln – DS land grant, sold for $15,496

Deng Xiaoping – signed photo, sold for $14,323

Marie Antoinette – DS manuscript, sold for $13,316

Adam Smith – Signature, sold for $13,316

For the complete list of results from this auction, click here.