Check from Old Abe Himself to...Himself Discovered in Ohio!

Over 70 checks were found in a vault in Ohio, but these checks aren't your ordinary kind. They're the kind that appreciate in dollar value while NOT being cashed...

Talk about finding old money under the couch or in this case, a really really really old check in a vault. According to the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, seventy checks were discovered in a vault at Huntington Bank's Columbus headquarters. 24 of the checks bore signatures of American presidents including those signed by George Washington, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Thomas Edison.

Interestingly, the Lincoln check was dated April 13, 1865, the DAY BEFORE he was assassinated. It was made out to "self" for the amount of $800, and drawn on the First National Bank of Washington, D.C., per an appraisal done for the bank by Cowan's Auctions in Cincinnati. The check was reportedly being used to get cash to pay shopping debts incurred by Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Hey, even presidents have bills to pay!

Some of the checks are already being displayed at Huntington's Brooklyn branch in suburban Cleveland. Branches in Akron, Canton and Toledo will also have similar displays this year.

Of course common sense dictates that you deposit any check made out to you sooner than later because that is money that could have earned interest on investments. Apparently this doesn't apply when you're a... oh I don't know... a PRESIDENT. The Lincoln check is worth about $25,000 today, while one written by George Washington to William Thornton for $500 is valued at $10,000 and a 1793 check by Thomas Jefferson for $22.69 is currently appraised at $6,000. But politicians didn't get all of the glory; a check from Hemingway to Curtis Publishing Co. for $3.50 is worth about $1,500 today.

According to Cowan, the value of the entire collection of checks around $73,000 - just under what a good comic book collection should be worth.

You know, this got me thinking. After taking a brief general survey over the CD, savings and money market accounts today, I noticed the obvious - there are some pretty crappy interest rates out there today! Kinda makes me wonder if I should make a "diversified" portfolio that does NOT spread my money over the usual interest bearing accounts, mutual funds, bond funds, ETF's, etc.

Maybe someday a serious financial advisor out there will sit with a concerned conservative cute old couple and say something like, "Okay so here's how we're going to safely diversify your $600K nest egg: $100K in silver eagles, $100K in gold bullion, $100K for my baseball card collection, $100K for my daughter's stamp collection and last but not least, $200K for my son's comic book collection featuring "The Avengers" because that team of superheroes is really freakin' cool these days and they're even coming out with a movie pretty soon...

What? Beats the hell out of writing a check to myself, hoping that I become a famous writer and then dying and letting somebody ELSE appreciate its appreciation right!?

Over and Out,

- Peter

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