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Abraham Lincoln card, signed weeks before his death, sells for $125,000

The CDV was obtained by Lincoln's valet, William Slade

Cover Image for Abraham Lincoln card, signed weeks before his death, sells for $125,000
Though Lincoln signatures aren't incredibly rare, few are found in good condition. (Credit: University Archives)

A signed Abraham Lincoln CDV sold for $125,000 on Wednesday at University Archives, the second highest price ever paid for a signed Lincoln card.

A CDV, short for carte de visite, is an early trading card of sorts that had a short life span in the 1860s.

While Lincoln signatures are fairly common — he signed a lot and much was kept — there are few that are deemed by authenticators as a perfect 10, as this one was.

This Lincoln card was signed just three weeks before his death. (Credit: University Archives)
This Lincoln card was signed just three weeks before his death. (Credit: University Archives)

Also driving the value was the notation on the back of the card, which states the autograph was obtained March 25, 1865. Lincoln was killed three weeks later. The CDV was obtained by William Slade, who was a valet to Lincoln.

The CDV, which was first sold by Christie's in 2005 for $57,600, comes with a 1991 letter from handwriting expert Charles Hamilton Jr. that speculates that "it may be the last photo he ever signed."

The record for a Lincoln signed item is $3.4 million paid in 2008 for a hand-written reply from Sept. 1864 to a petition to save "all the little slave children in this country." The letter, on executive mansion stationary, sold at Sotheby's.

University Archives also achieved a record for a Walt Whitman book in the auction. It sold an author's edition of "Leaves of Grass" signed by Whitman for $37,500.

Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.