Nelson Deedle is an established presence in the Southern California memorabilia industry who has amassed a major personal collection of autographs and other sought after memorabilia. Among those whose signatures Nelson Deedle has handled are the Founding Fathers of the Declaration of Independence.
Among the luminaries whose signatures are on the August 2, 1776, document are Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. However, the signatures of those who went on to have lengthy government careers are not necessarily the most valuable, as there are many examples.
A case in point, the most valuable signature of the 56 on the document is that of Button Gwinnett. Originally from England, Gwinnett moved to the British royal colony of Georgia in 1765 at age 30, and had a number of failed entrepreneurial ventures. However, he was passionate about American independence and was invited to Independence Hall, where he signed the Declaration of Independence just below John Hancock (whose penmanship was such that his name became synonymous with autographs).
Facing off against a political rival, Gwinnett was killed in a duel in 1777, only a year after signing the Declaration of Independence. With only 51 known signatures in existence (four of which are housed in the New York Public Library), just 10 are thought to be in private hands. The price of a single Gwinnett autograph is higher than those of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, and in the stratospheric realm of William Shakespeare. A 2010 sale of a Button Gwinnett autograph yielded $720,000, while a rare document that he signed went for $1.4 million in 2022.
Among the luminaries whose signatures are on the August 2, 1776, document are Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. However, the signatures of those who went on to have lengthy government careers are not necessarily the most valuable, as there are many examples.
A case in point, the most valuable signature of the 56 on the document is that of Button Gwinnett. Originally from England, Gwinnett moved to the British royal colony of Georgia in 1765 at age 30, and had a number of failed entrepreneurial ventures. However, he was passionate about American independence and was invited to Independence Hall, where he signed the Declaration of Independence just below John Hancock (whose penmanship was such that his name became synonymous with autographs).
Facing off against a political rival, Gwinnett was killed in a duel in 1777, only a year after signing the Declaration of Independence. With only 51 known signatures in existence (four of which are housed in the New York Public Library), just 10 are thought to be in private hands. The price of a single Gwinnett autograph is higher than those of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, and in the stratospheric realm of William Shakespeare. A 2010 sale of a Button Gwinnett autograph yielded $720,000, while a rare document that he signed went for $1.4 million in 2022.