Lincoln’s 1864 signed photograph, found in an old desk, sells for $149,020

The inscription confirms Lincoln donated the signed portrait to support Union soldiers’ families during the Civil War. Some historical treasures spend decades behind glass, carefully catalogued and admired. Others wait quietly in forgotten corners of family homes, their significance hidden until an unexpected discovery brings the past back to life. A signed photograph of Abraham Lincoln followed the latter path, surviving for generations in a Massachusetts family before emerging with an old newspaper clipping that helped establish its remarkable history. The portrait eventually sold at auction for $149,020, states an auction report by RR Auction.A photograph with a wartime purposeAccording to the auction report, the photograph, known as Lincoln's Penny Profile, captures the 16th US president in a right-facing profile. Measuring 2.25 by 4 inches, the carte-de-visite portrait was taken on February 9, 1864, by Anthony Berger at Mathew Brady's photographic studio in Washington.The image became one of Lincoln's most recognisable likenesses and later served as the principal photographic reference for Victor David Brenner's design of the Lincoln cent. The same photographic sitting also pr...