Jay Cooke Signed Check, 5 Months before Company Collapsed on the Eve of Panic of 1873

Two financial documents relating to the nineteenth-century banking firm of Jay Cooke & Company, comprised of a First National Bank of the City of New York check signed by company founder Jay Cooke (1821-1905); and an early Jay Cooke & Co., Bankers check issued in 1866.

The lot is comprised of:

1. First National Bank of the City of New York check No. 2613 issued in New York, New York on April 29, 1873, fully engrossed and signed by company president Jay Cooke as "Jay Cooke + Co" in the payee line. The check was made out in the amount of $200,000, or approximately $4.2 million in 2020 currency. Featuring a handsome portrait of Cooke at left. Bearing the usual stamps and cancellation marks. Near fine. 8" x 3".

2. Jay Cooke & Co., Bankers check No. 12 issued in Washington, D.C. on January 25, 1866 in the amount of $100. Fully engrossed and signed by Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren (1825-1898) as "M.V. Dahlgren" on the payee line. (Dahlgren was a writer, translator, and suffragist critic.) Bearing the usual stamps and cancellation marks, as well as a stamp duty. Expected wear, else very good. 7" x 2.75".

Jay Cooke, a successful and intrepid Pennsylvania banker, had established the firm that bore his name in January 1861. Cooke worked closely with the U.S. Treasury during the Civil War, and his generous loans and adept fundraising campaigns enabled the Union Army to pay its bills. Jay Cooke & Company declared bankruptcy in September 1873, just five months after Cooke signed the above document, after it became overextended in railroad investment at the onset of the Panic of 1873.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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