President Abraham Lincoln’s coffin flag, used in the funeral-train procession after his assassination in 1865, will sell later this month at Guernsey’s. The item carries a high estimate of $1.2 million.
The flag, which is being sold for the first time publicly, was draped from Lincoln’s coffin during the journey from Washington D.C. to his burial site in Springfield, Illinois.
Retracing a large part of Lincoln’s 1861 inaugural route, beginning on April 19 and arriving on May 3, an estimated 7 million mourners paid their respects at some point along the train’s route — a remarkable number considering the country’s population of around 30.8 million at the time.
The flag was first taken from the train by Sen. Edwin D. Morgan and given to Dr. Lewis Applegate, an army doctor who passed the flag down through his family for more than 150 years, leading to the flag’s nickname as “the Applegate flag.”
The flag was eventually exhibited at the Museum of Southern History from 1993 to 2021 and is being sold by the institution, which has been forced to close its doors after “contaminants” were discovered in the ground upon which it was built. According to the auction house, funding from this sale will be used for the acquisition of a new structure.
While comparable sales history for such flags are essentially nonexistent, one of the two flags which flew from the top of the train is archived at the Smithsonian.
Other items relating to Lincoln’s presidency and assassination have long been a subject of intrigue for collectors. In September 2023, a pair of tickets from Ford’s Theatre the night of Lincoln’s assassination sold to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay for $262,500.
In September, a broadside wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth sold for more than $130,000. In 2015, a Lincoln autograph manuscript, signed from his second inaugural address, sold for more than $2.2 million.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.