By April MacIntyre Nov 22, 2009, 18:52 GMT
Timing is everything, especially in the collectibles market and being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time.
"I thought it was a steal. If I were to tell you how high I would have bid, you would be shocked. This was the bargain of the century. I've spent up to $300,000 on John F. Kennedy pieces. I think this is one of the best there is," Maddalena said in a press statement.
The anniversary of JFK's assassination is being remembered on the smallscreen today in numerous documentaries.
Dealer and auctioneer Joseph Maddalena is also sharing his recent purchase of the last known signature by Kennedy.
Mr. Maddalena is the president of Profiles in History, a Calabasas-based auction house that purchased the last known JFK signature for $39.000. The document was signed on November 22, 1963, the fateful day he was gunned down in a Dallas motorcade.
Mr. Maddalena understands timing very well. His knowledge of the intrinsic nature of historical ephemera and its value started at an early age. He began his vocational path at the age of 12, wheeling and dealing baseball cards, and showing them to interested parties.
His love for collecting historical documents, artifacts and photos netted him a notation as the largest payer at a private auction for a handwritten letter in the Guinness Book of World Record, and a membership to the Manuscript Society and Universal Autograph Collectors Club.
Mr. Maddalena is recognized as the nation's leading authority on entertainment memorabilia and handwritten historical documents. He also exposed the Lex Cusak $13 million JFK/Marilyn Monroe forgery hoax.
This recently acquired JFK newspaper by Mr. Maddalena was personally inscribed to a hotel maid hours before Kennedy's death.
The maid, Jan White, was at the Texas Hotel where JFK was, and while on his way to give a breakfast speech before the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Kennedy read White's name on her name tag, and inscribed the newspaper "To Jan White, John Kennedy" across the picture of him and wife Jackie before continuing on to make his remarks and then catch his plane to Dallas.
Within hours he was dead; some say allegedly shot by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Kennedy's signature lies beneath the Dallas Morning News headline "Storm of Political Controversy Swirls Around Kennedy on Visit." The autographed newspaper page is matted and framed along with a color photo of JFK, a reproduction of the Seal of the President of the United States, and a small plaque detailing how the signature was obtained.
Mr. Maddalena and the Beverly Hills Public Library have joined together to give a unique opportunity to the public to view this incredible piece of history, displayed later this year.
Profiles in History LINK
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