In 1776 the rebelling Americans had a problem on their hands with a troop of British army prisoners captured in Canada and transported to Trenton, N.J. So the Continental Congress passed a resolution to march the red coats inland, away from the coming battles. On March 20, 1776, John Hancock, as president of the Congress, signed the resolution and that document is offered by Heritage at its Sept.13 auction. High estimate is $15,000.
Four months after the resolution, Hancock’s famously flamboyant signature would be seen by the world—and most certainly the British—at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence. That stroke of the pen would make his ‘john hancock’ on virtually any other document infinitely more valuable to future collectors.
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