Fleischer's Auctions, 503 S. High Street Suite 200, Columbus, OH (2026)

07/17/2026

Fleischer’s Auctions is set up in Doswell, Virginia for the Civil War show being held there this weekend! Come by and say hello! We’re always excited to accept exceptional consignments.

07/11/2026

𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑’𝐒 “𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟓𝟎” 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 $𝟏𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓

Spirited bidding elevated exceptional material relating to the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers, Judaica, Abraham Lincoln, and African American military history.

COLUMBUS, OHIO — July 10, 2026 — Fleischer’s Auctions achieved a commanding series of results in its America at 250 sale, led by the Congressional Presentation Sword awarded to Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, USN, for his celebrated victory during the First Barbary War. Following intense competition from 20 bids, the historic sword sold for $100,000, including the buyer’s premium, surpassing its $50,000–$75,000 estimate.

Authorized by Congress in 1802, the sword commemorated Sterett’s defeat of a Tripolitan corsair while commanding the schooner Enterprise on August 1, 1801. The engagement was among the earliest major victories of the newly established United States Navy, and Sterett’s sword is recognized as the first Congressional sword presented to a United States naval officer following the ratification of the Constitution.

Another significant lot was the first edition and first issue of the first complete Jewish prayer book printed in the New World, Isaac Pinto’s 1766 Prayers for Shabbath, Rosh-Hashanah, and Kippur. Containing dated familial inscriptions associated with prominent early Jewish Americans, the exceptionally important volume attracted 19 bids and sold for $57,500, including the buyer’s premium.

Revolutionary War manuscripts and printed material produced some of the auction’s most dramatic bidding. A 1779 Continental Army broadside prescribing uniforms for officers and enlisted men soared to $22,500 against an estimate of $750–$1,500 after 27 bids. A 1777 letter signed by George Washington concerning the pivotal Siege of Fort Mifflin sold for $23,750, while a pocket watch connected through longstanding provenance to a Founding Father brought $20,000, more than twice its high estimate.

Two 1779 receipts documenting provisions supplied for Washington’s headquarters also inspired determined competition. A receipt relating to the delivery of provisions sold for $10,625 against a $1,500–$3,000 estimate, and a corresponding receipt for w**e brought $5,000.

Among other notable Revolutionary-era results, a circa-1780s manuscript songbook containing the patriotic song “Bunker Hill” sold for $10,000; a 1787 document signed by both John Hancock and Dorothy Quincy Hancock realized $10,000; and a 1772 autograph letter signed by John Adams reached $8,750. An early illustrated broadside of the Declaration of Independence, estimated at only $500–$750, drew 30 bids and sold for $7,500.
Material illuminating the experiences of Black Americans in the nation’s military history was met with particularly strong enthusiasm. A sixteenth-plate tintype portrait of an unidentified United States Colored Troops soldier received 40 bids, the largest number recorded for any highlighted lot, and sold for $11,250 against an estimate of $250–$500. A Revolutionary War return identifying Black soldiers serving in the 9th Connecticut Regiment sold for $5,000, while an 1782 pay document belonging to a Black Connecticut soldier and former prisoner of war brought $4,062.50.

Abraham Lincoln photography formed another major pillar of the auction. An Alexander Gardner “from life” portrait of Lincoln, produced in April 1865, sold for $11,875 against a $750–$1,500 estimate. A scarce Mathew Brady portrait cataloged as Meserve No. 86 realized $7,500, while a photograph known as the “last portrait” of Lincoln brought $6,875. A Lincoln mourning carte de visite bearing the inscription “Liberty is Immortal Though Its Champion Be Slain” sold for $5,312.50, more than eight times its high estimate.

Early American photography also performed strongly. A historic daguerreotype depicting the Brooklyn Navy Yard sold for $11,875, while a tintype portrait of Private John Francis Hammond of the 4th United States Colored Troops realized $4,375.

Civil War and Gettysburg material attracted broad participation. An extraordinary firsthand account of Pickett’s Charge, written only days after the Battle of Gettysburg, sold for $8,125. A presentation drum associated with Maryland’s Purnell Legion brought $6,875, and a naval telescope inscribed to Lieutenant Commander George H. Perkins, later celebrated for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay, realized $5,000.

Additional highlights included:

A circa-1876 Centennial-era Grand Union Flag, or Continental Colors, which sold for $9,375 after 36 bids.
An important 1755 Quaker extract condemning the purchase and importation of enslaved people, which achieved $6,875 against an estimate of $500–$750.
A pair of silver-mounted French flintlock holster pistols associated with the era of the American Revolution, which sold for $6,250.
A 1775 issue of The Connecticut Journal reporting the burning of Falmouth and other early Revolutionary events, which brought $6,250 against a $250–$500 estimate.
A circa-1840 American whaling ship’s logbook, which realized $5,312.50.
A copy of Profiles in Courage inscribed by John F. Kennedy, which sold for $5,312.50.
A two-inch solid round shot recovered from the Revolutionary War gunboat Philadelphia in Lake Champlain, which reached $4,062.50 after 29 bids.
A rare horizontal carte de visite depicting Lincoln’s Chicago funeral hearse, which brought $4,062.50 against an estimate of $250–$500.

A wartime archive centered upon an original period photograph of Joe Rosenthal’s Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, together with the scrapbook, photographs, and personal effects of Seaman First Class Joseph Anthony Damico of the 133rd U.S. Naval Construction Battalion, sold for $11,250, including the buyer’s premium.

07/09/2026

𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖!! "𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟓𝟎"

𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 “𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟓𝟎” 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄, 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐖𝐎 𝐉𝐈𝐌𝐀

View the catalog here: https://bid.fleischersauctions.com/

Fleischer’s Auctions is pleased to announce that the catalog for our upcoming America at 250 auction is now available. The sale brings together an exceptional selection of early American manuscripts, rare books, Revolutionary War material, presidential autographs, antique photography, militaria, postal history, Native American and Western material, Civil War and Lincolniana, and important artifacts from the Second World War.

Organized in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of American independence, the auction presents a broad and compelling survey of the nation’s history, from the colonial and Revolutionary eras through the defining conflicts and cultural milestones of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Among the most significant lots in the sale is a first edition, first issue of Isaac Pinto’s 1766 Prayers for Shabbath, Rosh-Hashanah, and Kippur, widely recognized as the first complete Jewish prayer book printed in the New World. Presented by an American Jewish man who supported the Revolution to his daughter, it stands as one of the most important printed works relating to Jewish life in early America ever offered publicly at auction.

The Revolutionary War and Founding era are especially well represented. Highlights include a 1777 letter signed by George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, written to Commodore John Hazelwood in the aftermath of the pivotal Siege of Fort Mifflin; a rare 1685 William Penn signed Pennsylvania land indenture from the earliest years of the province; a 1772 autograph letter signed by John Adams in the wake of the Gaspee Affair; a 1796 document signed by Samuel Adams as Governor of Massachusetts; and a silver pocket watch belonging to Paine Wingate, delegate to the Confederation Congress and the last surviving member of the First United States Congress.
A major military and naval highlight is the Congressional Presentation Sword of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, U.S. Navy, estimated at $50,000–$75,000. Awarded for Sterett’s celebrated action during the First Barbary War, the sword represents one of the earliest and most historically significant congressional presentation swords associated with the United States Navy after the ratification of the Constitution.

The sale also includes important material relating to the Revolution’s printed and documentary history. Notable lots include a rare 1780 Connecticut recruitment broadside with an accompanying letter by Colonel Noadiah Ho**er, an early British printing of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation offering freedom to enslaved and indentured men who joined the Loyalist cause, an inscribed Revolutionary War powder horn, a manuscript songbook containing an early copy of “Bunker Hill,” and a recovered relic from the gunboat Philadelphia, sunk during the Battle of Valcour Island under Benedict Arnold.

Another central highlight is a rare Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony Express postal cover, one of the few recorded Type II East-to-West franked covers with evidence of Pony Express carriage to St. Joseph. Estimated at $15,000–$30,000, the cover is a remarkable survival from one of the most romantic and short-lived chapters in the history of American communication and westward expansion.

The catalog also features important works of early photography. Of particular note is a newly discovered, apparently unrecorded daguerreotype of the construction of Dry Dock No. 1 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, circa 1847. Descended in the family of Commodore Charles W. Morgan, the image is a museum-caliber record of antebellum engineering, naval architecture, and early photographic practice.

Civil War and Lincoln material form another major component of the sale. Highlights include an extraordinary eyewitness account of Pickett’s Charge written only days after the Battle of Gettysburg; a Gettysburg National Cemetery dedication ribbon associated with the event at which Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address; a bronze portrait bust maquette of Gouverneur K. Warren; and a remarkable Civil War-era Abraham Lincoln artist’s model doll owned by William Edgar Marshall, the celebrated painter and engraver known for his portraiture of Lincoln.

The sale further includes significant material relating to African American military service and the broader American struggle over slavery and freedom. One notable lot is an important 1782 pay document for Caesar Chapman, a Black Connecticut soldier and former prisoner of war who served nearly the entirety of the American Revolution with the Connecticut Line.

Western and Native American history are represented by a notable 1850 Millard Fillmore silver Peace Medal, suspended on a Russian blue cobalt bead necklace, together with related photographic material. The sale also includes a significant 1876 Centennial Grand Union Flag, or Continental Colors, from the celebrated Mastai Collection, commemorating the flag long regarded as the first unofficial national flag of the United States.
The auction concludes with powerful material from the Second World War. Among the most anticipated lots is an original Type I photograph of Joe Rosenthal’s Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, offered together with the wartime scrapbook, photographs, and effects of Seaman First Class Joseph Anthony Damico of the 133rd U.S. Naval Construction Battalion, who was wounded in action at Iwo Jima.

Also featured is an exceptionally rare Pearl Harbor intelligence archive containing decoded Japanese military communiqués relating to the attack, together with firsthand correspondence from Hickam Field in the immediate aftermath. Together, these lots bring the sale’s historical arc from the founding generation to the defining military events of the twentieth century

07/05/2026

𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘! "𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟓𝟎"

𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 “𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟓𝟎” 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄, 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐖𝐎 𝐉𝐈𝐌𝐀

View the catalog here: https://bid.fleischersauctions.com/
Fleischer’s Auctions is pleased to announce that the catalog for our upcoming America at 250 auction is now available. The sale brings together an exceptional selection of early American manuscripts, rare books, Revolutionary War material, presidential autographs, antique photography, militaria, postal history, Native American and Western material, Civil War and Lincolniana, and important artifacts from the Second World War.

Organized in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of American independence, the auction presents a broad and compelling survey of the nation’s history, from the colonial and Revolutionary eras through the defining conflicts and cultural milestones of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Among the most significant lots in the sale is a first edition, first issue of Isaac Pinto’s 1766 Prayers for Shabbath, Rosh-Hashanah, and Kippur, widely recognized as the first complete Jewish prayer book printed in the New World. Presented by an American Jewish man who supported the Revolution to his daughter, it stands as one of the most important printed works relating to Jewish life in early America ever offered publicly at auction.

The Revolutionary War and Founding era are especially well represented. Highlights include a 1777 letter signed by George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, written to Commodore John Hazelwood in the aftermath of the pivotal Siege of Fort Mifflin; a rare 1685 William Penn signed Pennsylvania land indenture from the earliest years of the province; a 1772 autograph letter signed by John Adams in the wake of the Gaspee Affair; a 1796 document signed by Samuel Adams as Governor of Massachusetts; and a silver pocket watch belonging to Paine Wingate, delegate to the Confederation Congress and the last surviving member of the First United States Congress.
A major military and naval highlight is the Congressional Presentation Sword of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, U.S. Navy, estimated at $50,000–$75,000. Awarded for Sterett’s celebrated action during the First Barbary War, the sword represents one of the earliest and most historically significant congressional presentation swords associated with the United States Navy after the ratification of the Constitution.

The sale also includes important material relating to the Revolution’s printed and documentary history. Notable lots include a rare 1780 Connecticut recruitment broadside with an accompanying letter by Colonel Noadiah Ho**er, an early British printing of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation offering freedom to enslaved and indentured men who joined the Loyalist cause, an inscribed Revolutionary War powder horn, a manuscript songbook containing an early copy of “Bunker Hill,” and a recovered relic from the gunboat Philadelphia, sunk during the Battle of Valcour Island under Benedict Arnold.
Another central highlight is a rare Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony Express postal cover, one of the few recorded Type II East-to-West franked covers with evidence of Pony Express carriage to St. Joseph. Estimated at $15,000–$30,000, the cover is a remarkable survival from one of the most romantic and short-lived chapters in the history of American communication and westward expansion.

The catalog also features important works of early photography. Of particular note is a newly discovered, apparently unrecorded daguerreotype of the construction of Dry Dock No. 1 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, circa 1847. Descended in the family of Commodore Charles W. Morgan, the image is a museum-caliber record of antebellum engineering, naval architecture, and early photographic practice.

Civil War and Lincoln material form another major component of the sale. Highlights include an extraordinary eyewitness account of Pickett’s Charge written only days after the Battle of Gettysburg; a Gettysburg National Cemetery dedication ribbon associated with the event at which Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address; a bronze portrait bust maquette of Gouverneur K. Warren; and a remarkable Civil War-era Abraham Lincoln artist’s model doll owned by William Edgar Marshall, the celebrated painter and engraver known for his portraiture of Lincoln.

The sale further includes significant material relating to African American military service and the broader American struggle over slavery and freedom. One notable lot is an important 1782 pay document for Caesar Chapman, a Black Connecticut soldier and former prisoner of war who served nearly the entirety of the American Revolution with the Connecticut Line.

Western and Native American history are represented by a notable 1850 Millard Fillmore silver Peace Medal, suspended on a Russian blue cobalt bead necklace, together with related photographic material. The sale also includes a significant 1876 Centennial Grand Union Flag, or Continental Colors, from the celebrated Mastai Collection, commemorating the flag long regarded as the first unofficial national flag of the United States.
The auction concludes with powerful material from the Second World War. Among the most anticipated lots is an original Type I photograph of Joe Rosenthal’s Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, offered together with the wartime scrapbook, photographs, and effects of Seaman First Class Joseph Anthony Damico of the 133rd U.S. Naval Construction Battalion, who was wounded in action at Iwo Jima.

Also featured is an exceptionally rare Pearl Harbor intelligence archive containing decoded Japanese military communiqués relating to the attack, together with firsthand correspondence from Hickam Field in the immediate aftermath. Together, these lots bring the sale’s historical arc from the founding generation to the defining military events of the twentieth century.

07/02/2026

𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐑

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐜 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢 𝐈𝐧 𝟏𝟖𝟎𝟏

View the lot and bid here:

https://bid.fleischersauctions.com/online-auctions/fleischers-auctions/barbary-wars-congressional-presentation-naval-officers-sword-of-lt-andrew-sterett-usn-9389915

The Congressional Presentation Sword of Lieutenant (Master Commandant) Andrew Sterett, USN, the first Congressional sword to be presented to a US Navy Officer after the establishment of the United States Navy by the ratification of the Constitution, for the action between the Enterprise and a Tripolitan Corsair on August 1, 1801. Sterett's Congressional resolution authorizing this sword reads:

"Act [of Congress] of February 3, 1802. - That they [Congress] entertain a high sense of the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Sterett and the other officers, seamen and marines on board the schooner Enterprise, in the capture of a Tripolitan corsair of 14 guns and 80 men. That the President of the United States be requested to present to Lieutenant Sterett a sword, commemorative of the aforesaid heroic action; and that one month's pay be allowed to all the other officers, seamen and marines who were on board the Enterprise when the aforesaid action tool place."

The sword has a 27.75" curved, single edged blade with a nearly full length stopped median fuller and a 1.38" wide blade at the ricasso. The blade is .29" thick at the spine at the ricasso. The overall length is 34.5" with a 5.5" gilt brass hilt with a large beaked and heavily feathered American Eagle Head pommel and flat round capstan nut. The highly detailed knuckle bow is chased with oak leaves and terminates in a silver boat with fouled ropes at the lower face of the guard. The guard is highly detailed with flowing open work oak leaves, chased silver panoplies of arms and terminates in a silver anchor in the quillon position at the top of the guard. The grip has a highly detailed fasces pattern design with "E PLURIBUS UNUM" crossing in the center of the grip on both sides. Remnants of a red fabric throat washer are present on the face of the guard. The blade was almost certainly originally blued and gilt decorated but has been lightly cleaned and is now bright steel. Decorative engraved motifs remain visible on the blade and consist of flowing foliate themes, an armed Native American warrior and an American Eagle and shield surmounted by a group of stars on the obverse. The reverse is decorated with a classical goddess with a laurel bough, a Native American bust and with classical, foliate and martial themes. The sword is accompanied by its gilt brass mounted back seamed leather scabbard with the highly detailed open work mounts engraved with detailed floral and geometric patterns and chased with applied silver ropes. The upper mount is 5.75" in length with a key-shaped suspension swivel. The middle mount is 4.875" in length with the same pattern suspension swivel as found on the upper mount. The drag is 10.5" long. The top face of the throat is engraved in two lines: "Watson, Strand" over "London, Facit". William Watson was a goldsmith and jeweler in England, whose address was on the Strand from circa 1784 through 1811. During the period that the sword was made, his address was at 149 Strand.

The sword is for all practical purposes the twin of the Congressional presentation sword of US Navy Captain Stephen Decatur. The Decatur sword is pictured and described on pages 122-124 of Peter Tuite's U.S. Naval Officers - Their Swords and Dirks. Decatur was authorized his Congressional sword for his actions on February 16, 1804 in Tripoli harbor, where he led a boarding effort to cut out or destroy the captured US Navy ship Philadelphia. That sword now resides in the collection of the US Navy Academy at Annapolis, MD. The key evidence that the sword offered here is the one that was presented to Sterett is found in a letter dated 30 May 1805 from Jacob Crowningshield to US Consul in London, George W. Erving. It reads in part:

"...Referring to my letter of April ye 28th to Mr. Smith accompanying two swords purchased here by order of the Government, as Presents from Congress to Lieut. Sterritt (sic) and Captain Decateur (sic), which were sent under the care of Mr. Ryland Randolph of Virginia, I have now the honor to incluse (sic) to you the receipt of the manufacturer for 87.3.0 Sterling being the amount of the Bill transmitted in the Letter referred to."

This letter makes it clear that sword that was procured of the same type, and from the same source as Decatur's sword, was intended for Sterett. Sterett's sword was authorized by Congress some two years before Decatur's action even took place, making it the first Congressionally authorized presentation sword for a US Naval officer in the newly establish United States. The letter suggests the each sword cost nominally 43 pounds, 4 shillings circa 1804-1805. In today's money, that would be roughly 5,340 pounds sterling, or more than $7,000 US dollars in 2025. A significant amount of supporting research is provided with the sword to verify that it is in fact the Sterett sword and that this is the only example of such a Congressionally authorized sword to be in private hands, since the Decatur sword is at Annapolis, as noted. Interestingly the research additionally indicates that Congressionally approved swords were intended to be presented to the officer's in command of Commodore Preble's squadron and to Captain William Eaton but were never actually commissioned by Congress. As such, only two swords were actually authorized by Congress and subsequently produced and then presented by the President for gallantry during the Barbary Wars; the Decatur sword and this one.

Andrew Sterett (1778-1807) was born in Baltimore on January 27, 1778, the son of successful shipping merchant and Revolutionary War naval Captain John Sterett. Andrew joined the US Navy on March 1798 during the period of the Quasi-War with France and initially served as third lieutenant under Capt. Thomas Truxton of the USS Constellation. Sterett came to national prominence when the Constellation captured the French frigate Insurgente on February 9, 1799. In that action the only American casualty was a US seaman who abandoned his post in fear during the fighting and who was summarily "run through" by Sterett who later noted that "We put men to death for even looking pale on this ship." Despite the negative publicity the event created at home, the US Navy saw the grit of this young officer and they promoted him from third to first lieutenant in February of 1800 and later that year gave him command of the schooner USS Enterprise. Sterett joined the squadron under Commodore Richard Dale during the early days of the Barbary Wars in 1801 and on August 1st fought the action for which this sword was presented. During the fight Enterprise took the 14 gun corsair Tripoli, which suffered 30 dead and 30 wounded in the engagement with no loss of American lives. As the war was not an officially declared one, and Sterett was forbidden by international law from taking the Tripoli as prize, he had her crew throw their cannons overboard and the survivors were allowed to take their ship and return home. Sterett remained the commander of the Enterprise until April of 1803 when he turned the ship over to the command of the aforementioned Stephen Decatur, who would eventually be awarded the other sword of this pattern. Sterett was promoted to master commandant that year and was to take command of a ship that was then under construction. Although Sterett was Decatur's senior in rank, Decatur's length of service allowed him to be promoted over Sterett, something that Sterett could not abide. As a result of the perceived slight, Sterett took dramatic action and resigned from the service on June 29, 1805. He would go on to have a successful career in the merchant marine but would die in Lima, Peru on June 9, 1807, at the age of 29 from a self inflicted gunshot wound, once again the result of his dramatic action based upon his belief that his honor had been offended by another man.

06/22/2026

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄! 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟓𝟎

𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 “𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟓𝟎” 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄, 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐖𝐎 𝐉𝐈𝐌𝐀

View the catalog here: https://bid.fleischersauctions.com/

Fleischer’s Auctions is pleased to announce that the catalog for our upcoming America at 250 auction is now available. The sale brings together an exceptional selection of early American manuscripts, rare books, Revolutionary War material, presidential autographs, antique photography, militaria, postal history, Native American and Western material, Civil War and Lincolniana, and important artifacts from the Second World War.

Organized in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of American independence, the auction presents a broad and compelling survey of the nation’s history, from the colonial and Revolutionary eras through the defining conflicts and cultural milestones of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Among the most significant lots in the sale is a first edition, first issue of Isaac Pinto’s 1766 Prayers for Shabbath, Rosh-Hashanah, and Kippur, widely recognized as the first complete Jewish prayer book printed in the New World. Presented by an American Jewish man who supported the Revolution to his daughter, it stands as one of the most important printed works relating to Jewish life in early America ever offered publicly at auction.

The Revolutionary War and Founding era are especially well represented. Highlights include a 1777 letter signed by George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, written to Commodore John Hazelwood in the aftermath of the pivotal Siege of Fort Mifflin; a rare 1685 William Penn signed Pennsylvania land indenture from the earliest years of the province; a 1772 autograph letter signed by John Adams in the wake of the Gaspee Affair; a 1796 document signed by Samuel Adams as Governor of Massachusetts; and a silver pocket watch belonging to Paine Wingate, delegate to the Confederation Congress and the last surviving member of the First United States Congress.

A major military and naval highlight is the Congressional Presentation Sword of Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, U.S. Navy, estimated at $50,000–$75,000. Awarded for Sterett’s celebrated action during the First Barbary War, the sword represents one of the earliest and most historically significant congressional presentation swords associated with the United States Navy after the ratification of the Constitution.

The sale also includes important material relating to the Revolution’s printed and documentary history. Notable lots include a rare 1780 Connecticut recruitment broadside with an accompanying letter by Colonel Noadiah Ho**er, an early British printing of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation offering freedom to enslaved and indentured men who joined the Loyalist cause, an inscribed Revolutionary War powder horn, a manuscript songbook containing an early copy of “Bunker Hill,” and a recovered relic from the gunboat Philadelphia, sunk during the Battle of Valcour Island under Benedict Arnold.

Another central highlight is a rare Wells, Fargo & Co. Pony Express postal cover, one of the few recorded Type II East-to-West franked covers with evidence of Pony Express carriage to St. Joseph. Estimated at $15,000–$30,000, the cover is a remarkable survival from one of the most romantic and short-lived chapters in the history of American communication and westward expansion.

The catalog also features important works of early photography. Of particular note is a newly discovered, apparently unrecorded daguerreotype of the construction of Dry Dock No. 1 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, circa 1847. Descended in the family of Commodore Charles W. Morgan, the image is a museum-caliber record of antebellum engineering, naval architecture, and early photographic practice.

Civil War and Lincoln material form another major component of the sale. Highlights include an extraordinary eyewitness account of Pickett’s Charge written only days after the Battle of Gettysburg; a Gettysburg National Cemetery dedication ribbon associated with the event at which Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address; a bronze portrait bust maquette of Gouverneur K. Warren; and a remarkable Civil War-era Abraham Lincoln artist’s model doll owned by William Edgar Marshall, the celebrated painter and engraver known for his portraiture of Lincoln.

The sale further includes significant material relating to African American military service and the broader American struggle over slavery and freedom. One notable lot is an important 1782 pay document for Caesar Chapman, a Black Connecticut soldier and former prisoner of war who served nearly the entirety of the American Revolution with the Connecticut Line.

Western and Native American history are represented by a notable 1850 Millard Fillmore silver Peace Medal, suspended on a Russian blue cobalt bead necklace, together with related photographic material. The sale also includes a significant 1876 Centennial Grand Union Flag, or Continental Colors, from the celebrated Mastai Collection, commemorating the flag long regarded as the first unofficial national flag of the United States.

The auction concludes with powerful material from the Second World War. Among the most anticipated lots is an original Type I photograph of Joe Rosenthal’s Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, offered together with the wartime scrapbook, photographs, and effects of Seaman First Class Joseph Anthony Damico of the 133rd U.S. Naval Construction Battalion, who was wounded in action at Iwo Jima.

Also featured is an exceptionally rare Pearl Harbor intelligence archive containing decoded Japanese military communiqués relating to the attack, together with firsthand correspondence from Hickam Field in the immediate aftermath. Together, these lots bring the sale’s historical arc from the founding generation to the defining military events of the twentieth century.

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