Head of state: Lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair sells for $25,000

A lock of slain U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s hair and items connected to his assassin were top sellers at an auction that raised $803,889 (£536,302) yesterday. Fetching $25,000 (£16,670) was the lock of hair removed by Surgeon General Joseph Barnes shortly after Lincoln was shot by actor and Confederacy supporter John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. He died the next day. The lock of hair was among about 300 items that belonged to Fort Worth, Texas history buff Donald Dow and is considered one of the best private Lincoln memorabilia collections known to exist.

I want other collectors to have a chance to enjoy it.

Greg Dow said the time was right for him to sell his late father’s collection

Dow, a late Fort Worth art gallery owner, built the collection over five decades, beginning in 1963 with the purchase of a box of books, according to his son Greg Dow, who is selling the collection. Items auctioned included a letter to a friend written and signed by Booth in 1861, which went for $30,000 (£20,015).

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