LINCOLN’S LAST SIGNATURE

President Abraham Lincoln's signature, probably the last he ever wrote, turned up at a 2006 flea market in Ohio. The signature was on a note that said, "Let this man enter with this note, April 14, 1865." That was the day Lincoln was shot. The note has been authenticated and may be worth up to $25,000. The owner says he is not selling it. (From an Associated Press article)

MISSING STAMP GOES FOR RECORD PRICE

A rare 90-cent Lincoln stamp that was stolen and missing for 39 years, auctioned last Saturday for $431,250. The stamp had been in a collector's safe in Indianapolis when it vanished in 1967. It resurfaced at a house in Chicago in 2006 and the police were notified. The stamp was on an envelope referred to as "The Ice House Cover" that was mailed from Boston to the Ice House in Calcutta, India in 1873. The seller was Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc. of New York City.

NEW LINCOLN PENNIES

The U.S. Mint is making new pennies this year in honor of President Lincoln's 200th birthday. The first of four new 2009 Lincoln penny designs has an image of a log cabin on the tail side. But distribution is slow and we hear that single pennies are selling for $1 each and 50-cent rolls for up to $50 online. Save your money; there will be plenty of new Lincoln pennies in the future. A new tails design is scheduled to be released every three months. Lincoln's familiar profile is on the head side of all four penny designs.

SMITHSONIAN DISCOVERS INSCRIPTION IN LINCOLN WATCH

Do you examine every new piece you buy? Old desks often have secret compartments; lockets and memorial jewelry sometimes have space to put a note. But imagine finding an inscription that had been hidden for almost 150 years inside a watch that belonged to Abraham Lincoln. Doug Stiles knew that his great-great-grandfather had been a watchmaker who worked on President Lincoln's watch. Stiles found a 1906 newspaper article in which his grandfather told about putting a message in the watch. The watch was given to the Smithsonian in 1958 by Lincoln's great-grandson. When Stiles told the Smithsonian about the newspaper article, the museum decided to have a watchmaker open the watch. In front of an audience and TV cameras, he found the inscription engraved so long ago: "Jonathan Dillon, April 13- 1861 Fort Sumpter was attacked by the rebels on the above date." (Fort Sumter was named for Revolutionary War General Thomas Sumter, but the name of the fort was often misspelled; the first date of the attack was actually April 12.) Dillon's other inscription includes the phrase, "thank God we have a government." There was also an engraving by another watchmaker who repaired the watch in September 1864. His engraving included the name "Jeff Davis." Was that a pro-Confederate statement? We are amazed that the inscription remained secret for so long and that two watchmakers "scribbled" on the president's watch.