FORMER PRESIDENT John F. Kennedy’s last-known autograph has gone up for auction in the US.
JFK was fatally shot at around 12:25pm on November 22nd, 1963 in Dallas Texas.
Just two hours earlier, the 35th President of the United States was filmed signing autographs and posing for pictures as he prepared to board Air Force One.
Now one of those signatures, written in red ballpoint pen with some light smudging, has gone up for auction in the US with an opening bid of $25,000.
According to TMZ, Goldin Auction, the company behind the sale, expects bidding to reach at least $100,000 if not more.
JFK had given a breakfast speech to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce earlier that day before heading to Carswell Aire Force Base where Air Force One was waiting to take him and his wife Jacqueline to Dallas.
As he made his way to the plane, waving to the watching crowds a pad and pen was thrust in his general direction with Kennedy hastily signing the bit of paper before boarding the flight.
Video footage of JFK’s blind-and-you’ll-miss-it autograph can be found on YouTube, adding further weight to the signature’s provenance.
A few hours later, Kennedy was dead and the world as we knew it would change forever.
More than five decades on, the sale represents a unique chance to own what would be among the last documents signed by the Irish American President.
Goldin Auction’s sale concludes this Friday, April 19th.
