According to our research, only one other Christy Mathewson check has ever surfaced at auction from the year of Matty's death, 1925—and it hailed from a month earlier than the example now presented. Thus, this Adirondack National Bank check is the last known signed check of Big Six's proud and tragic life. Dated March 26, 1925, it paid for his stay at St. Petersburg's Hotel Soreno, following the ill-fated trip to Braves spring-training camp, where Mathewson caught the cold that proved the death knell for the tuberculosis that had plagued him since his WWI service. Saranac Lake was his refuge, his sanctuary, throughout those wrenching final years, and it was there that he returned and there that he died on October 7, 1925. The check is trimmed to slightly off-cut dimensions of 8 x 2-3/4", yet preserves the entirety of the perimeter details including Mathewson's typed name at left. Its frontal display appearance is VG-EX with edge wear and a light stain that passes through the first "h." The reverse bears an adhered horizontal piece of mounting board along the bottom, not visible from the front. Signature graded "9" by PSA/DNA. Full LOA from PSA/DNA. This item has a reserve (estimated value $10,000-$15,000).
|