06/14/2026
Not getting much love on the autographs so far! Am I stumping you? I will admit, it is a lot of research research for some of these! Let's move onto our third president, Thomas Jefferson today and our fourth, president, James Madison.
Surprisingly, I see a lot of these "pirate passports" This document is signed by both President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison, folio on vellum, Washington, August 7, 1806, with an engraving at top of a sailing ship and a harbor scene dominated by a lighthouse, being a passport for the Ship Two Marys out of New York, master Caleb Johnson. A previous ship of Johnson’s, The Ann, had been seized by the Spanish a year earlier. Johnson’s experience, having two ships under his command seized in a two year period, illustrates how disruptive to American commerce the war in Europe was proving to be.
These passports, given to ships rather than individuals, were issued to U.S. vessels engaged in foreign trade, and are among the most attractive of presidential signed documents.
Join us at South Mountain Appraisals, LLC as we celebrate the 250th Anniversary by spotlighting the different Presidents with a "Guess the Value" on various documents including, but not limited to letters, land grants, and military commissions. Basically, I post a document in the morning, you guess, and I post the appraised fair market value in the afternoon.
See you tomorrow as we explore James Monroe.
As a books and ephemera specialist for a company out ot Manhattan, I have appraised autographs from every single president before President Reagan. Please note, due to NDAs, I will be posting representative items of what I have appraised.
