I found something amazing. But i don't know what to do with it.

[Bomberhead]

My great Aunt gave me a suitcase full of turn of the century documents and paperwork that she had sitting around. She is quite old and is going into an old folks home soon so she is just getting rid of everything. Well, In this case is tons of old letters from ancestors and just a lot of old junk. Until i came across this large folded up paper. I unfolded it and notices an embedded seal in the upper right corner and a metallic seal stamped into the lower left. It is a Deed to a property in Missouri Signed by none other that JAMES FREAKING GARFIELD himself!!! And to make it even better, its dated Sep-1-1881, 18 days before he died! This is a MAJOR piece of American history And its sitting in my living room! I looked up like items on Google and lesser things are selling for $10,000. But i haven't a freaking CLUE what to do with this. Do i have to pay someone to get it verified? How do i sell it? All i know is, I would LOVE to get my sons college fund headed in the right direction. Anyone have any advice?

[Yakumo]

And who is James Garfield? Was he a great engineer or something of his time?

[ASSEMbler]

First don't count your chickens before they hatch. Not trying to
burst your bubble, but try to keep your expectations low so you
don't set yourself up for as huge letdown.

If the documents are in bundles, don't separate them.
The oils in your hand can damage documents, wear gloves.

Now comes the hard part. You need to prove some sort of provenance.
How did she get them? How are they tied to your family. Documents with
stories are worth more. Start with the names on the paper and search public
records. You're going to have to do research or hire a researcher.

If it's not historically significant, then it's not going to be the jackpot you're hoping.
However it should help out for sure when you send it to auction.

A free way to find out about the items is to contact any authors who have written about him. Find historians in your state and see if you can get a free evaluation.

See if the property has any historical significance.

Lastly call a document seller, they will lowball you for sure.
Wait for a historical document auction and submit it to the sale.

[ASSEMbler]

And who is James Garfield? Was he a great engineer or something of his time?

A civil war figure, and president.

[liquitt]

And who is James Garfield? Was he a great engineer or something of his time?

the 20th president of the states...until he died.

btw, just go to a museum, they have everything you need. researchers, people that can handle old material etc.

[Cooleo]

See if you can go claim the land, as you have the deed to it.

[A. Snow]

Pawn Stars...

[Yakumo]

Ah, so he was a president. Well in that case you really do have something special. Like ASSEMbler said, keep your hopes low then you may be very surprised for the good.

[LeGIt]

Firstly how can you be sure it is the same James Garfield? James is a common name.

Secondly, if it is the 20th president, just because a document has historical value doesn't make it have any monetary value. For example many people have fame without fortune, or fortune without fame.

Lastly, if it is valuable and it does get sold IMO 99% of the money should go to your aunt - care homes are not cheap.

[derekb]

[Cyantist]

Firstly how can you b sure it is th same Jams Garfield? James is a common name.

Probably the seals he was talking about.

[Bomberhead]

Firstly how can you be sure it is the same James Garfield? James is a common name.

Because it says I James Garfield President Of the United States of America Hereby blah blah blah...
And Large land deeds like this were often signed by the President around this time.

First don't count your chickens before they hatch. Not trying to
burst your bubble, but try to keep your expectations low so you
don't set yourself up for as huge letdown.

If the documents are in bundles, don't separate them.
The oils in your hand can damage documents, wear gloves.

Now comes the hard part. You need to prove some sort of provenance.
How did she get them? How are they tied to your family. Documents with
stories are worth more. Start with the names on the paper and search public
records. You're going to have to do research or hire a researcher.

If it's not historically significant, then it's not going to be the jackpot you're hoping.
However it should help out for sure when you send it to auction.

A free way to find out about the items is to contact any authors who have written about him. Find historians in your state and see if you can get a free evaluation.

See if the property has any historical significance.

Lastly call a document seller, they will lowball you for sure.
Wait for a historical document auction and submit it to the sale.

Will do. I had no idea that there was such thing as a historical document auction but im going to keep my eyes peeled. Thank you for all the helpful info.

[GaijinPunch]

[HCK]

Whenever I hear something about James Garfield I always think of the Bloom County strip where Opus worked from the newspaper and had to choose a new comic strip to put in the comics. One of the possibilities was the "historical comedy" strip "James Garfiels" which just replaced the cat with the president. It was very un-funny, just like the real Garfield.

I tired to find it to post, but I couldn't. Nothing's more un-funny than someone describing a 25-year old comic trip to you^^;

[angelwolf71885]

See if you can go claim the land, as you have the deed to it.

thats my first thought too free property
make sure you say thank you to aunt for giving you your inheritance early :D

[Johnny]

Pawn Stars...

After watching this show so much, i actually thought about doing the same suggestion. :lol:

But seriously go to a museum or follow ASSEMbler's suggestion.

[Bomberhead]

So i took it to a Document Authenticator. He told me that it is not in fact signed by James Garfield but his secretary. However i still might be able to get $100 for it due to the rarity of Garfield documents while he was in office. Oh well. Thanks Assembler & Co. for the advice.

[LeGIt]

Don't bother selling it for $100 (could b a scam :P) but as its value is low anyway it will be no real loss to just donate it to a museum and leave it at that.

[angelwolf71885]

Don't bothr slling it for $100 (could b a scam :P) but as ts vlaue is low anyway it will be no real loss to just donate it to a museum and leave it at that.

or try and clam the property and sell the property or even live on the property

[Twimfy]

I wouldn't settle for $100 just yet. I'd do a little more research on this. A private collector may pay far more for it.