One of Only Three Checks of Franklin Pierce Known to Have Reached the Market, This Being One of Two Signed as President

Pierce is one of the hardest three presidents to find in signed check form

Checks are a record of the interests of the writer, or the relationship between the writer of the check and the recipient. Like letters, they convey information, sometimes important information. They are collected for these reasons, and others.

The three Presidents whose checks are most difficult to obtain are Franklin Pierce, John Tyler, and Zachary Taylor. Most collections are missing checks by these three presidents; to obtain a check from one of them while in the Executive Mansion is even more extraordinary.

Partly-printed Autograph Check Signed, Washington, May 10, 1853, written on his account at Withers & Co. and paid to Thomas Noyes of Elmira, N.Y. for ten dollars. This very check is pictured in Charles Hamilton’s “American Autographs” (University of Oklahoma Press, 1983), Volume 2, page 429. It is one of only three checks signed by Franklin Pierce known to have reached the market, of which just two are as President. The rarity speaks for itself.

In May 1853, the estate of Thomas Noyes, Sr. was chosen as the new site of Elmira College. From the exact coincidence of dates, we would speculate that this check was written to his son Thomas, likely as a donation toward the expenses of moving and reestablishing the college.