You are so right! As a Worthologist specializing in presidential, White House, political and vexillology (flags and seals), I have similar stories about provenance.

I was presented with an image of JFK looking through binoculars at a military event and was asked what the binoculars are worth since JFK had handed them to their father which is now part of his estate. I had to explain that unless it was written down somewhere that JFK had given them to her father the value is on the binoculars, not the association.

On the other hand, I was able to verify the authenticity of a suit that was made expressly for President Obama when he was a senator by tracing back the label sewn inside. It was bought at a Goodwill-type store for a few dollars, but because the suit was sent to the remainder pile by the manufacturer by accident, technically the suit was still owned by now President Obama. It’s possible the guy who bought it would probably have a hard time selling it because of ownership issues.

There was also the case of an auction selling an Abraham Lincoln inaugural silver chalice for near $250k. Unfortunately, someone had engraved a rather large presidential coat-of-arms directly onto the chalice that didn’t exist until 1945. The provenance of the silver chalice may not be questioned, but that it was defaced nearly 100 years later was not left in doubt.

And there are more. Stories have great sentimental value, too, but only to the family who owns the object. If being sold, the new collector is interested only in the object with the story coming in somewhere well down the line, unless it is properly documented.

As President Reagan was fond of saying, “Trust, but verify”.

Tom Carrier
Worthologist