Document may be from Lincoln: Collector picks up rare find at flea market
ALAN INGRAM , Morning Journal Writer
Bruce Steiner shows a copy of the envelope bearing the signature "A. Lincoln."
SOUTH AMHERST -- Bruce Steiner has been collecting antiques -- ''junk,'' he calls it -- for about 50 years. He has wooden pulleys, ice tongs and an old crane, among other things.
Last October, the South Amherst resident's collection got a little more unique, and perhaps even a little more historically significant.
He was at Jamie's Flea Market on SR 113 in Amherst Township, when he discovered a box with various antique documents in it. Among them, a 1928-series English Pound note from the Bank of Great Britain and Ireland and an IRS receipt from 1863 for a person who paid $1 for a horse carriage.
Then he uncovered a small envelope, about the size that a child would receive on Valentine's Day. On the outside was written, ''Let this man enter with this note.''
It bears the signature ''A. Lincoln'' and date April 14, 1865, the day President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater.
Initially, Steiner said he thought it ''had to be fake.'' He had trouble getting people to believe his document might be valuable, he added.
''If this was real, you can stir up a whole can of worms,'' he said. ''Was it a blank envelope? Was there anything in it? Was there a note, or was that the whole thing?''
Then he heard about a project by the Illinois Historic Preservation Society and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum that was identifying and imaging Lincoln's documents.
People from the project came to his home and scanned his envelope, creating a digital image of it.
The goal of the project is to ''locate, image and then publish all the letters relating to Abraham Lincoln's life,'' according to John Lupton, associate director of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln. So far, there are about 38,000 documents in their database.
They do not verify the authenticity of the documents, Lupton said, but they do need to be on the lookout for fakes or forgeries. After examining Steiner's envelope, Lupton considers it to be real.
''In my opinion, I believe your document is genuine and entirely in the handwriting of Abraham Lincoln,'' Lupton said in a letter to Steiner. ''First, while the handwriting of the text appears to be sloppy, it certainly bears many of the characteristics of Lincoln's handwriting ...''
Lupton examined the envelope with a loupe, which he said is similar to a jewelers glass. He determined that the envelope featured handwriting from the time, written in iron gall ink, rather than a printed fake.
''The ink is definite and clearly uneven, meaning it was written with some form of a quill pen -- it is not printed nor written with ball-point pen or marker,'' the letter states.
The signature also appears authentic, Lupton said.
''Lincoln had a pretty distinct way of writing his name,'' Lupton said, adding that forgers can't reproduce Lincoln's signature perfectly.
''If someone forged this document, they are the best forger I've ever seen,'' Lupton said in the letter to Steiner.
Lupton said he has no idea how much the envelope could be worth. However, the fact that it is dated April 14, 1865 makes it an ''extremely unique document'' that is more valuable than one that would have been dated on April 14, 1863, for instance.
Steiner isn't taking any chances though. He has the original locked away in a safety deposit box at a bank. He only has a framed copy at his home.
''This has been an adventure,'' Steiner said. ''This is like a mystery.''
No leter but still if it's real, the date alone will make it worth alot
OnTheAirWakandan Ambassador
Hunter RiderRonin
