1918 Charles Comiskey Endorsed Chicago Cubs Check

Sold For:

$1,920

Year:

1918

Auction:

2020 Fall

Lot #:

1731

Category:

Autographed Baseballs/Flats/Photos

Chicago Cubs business check, dated September 16, 1918, issued to, and endorsed by, Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey. The check, drawn on the Lake View State Bank of Chicago, Illinois, is made out in the amount of $19.80. Signed by the club's treasurer Walter Craighead in the lower right corner. Endorsed by "Chas. A. Comiskey" in black fountain pen (grading "8/9") on the reverse. Comiskey's son, "J. Louis Comiskey," as also endorsed the check, directly below his father's signature. (J. Louis Comiskey was a White Sox executive and inherited the team upon his father's death in 1931.) While we do not know specifically what this payment to Comiskey represents, the word "Special" is typed along the base of the check, indicating that it was a miscellaneous payment. This lot originates from the extraordinary collection of a longtime Chicago Cubs executive, Eldred "Salty" Saltwell, which is consigned to this auction by his family. The collection, which includes a remarkable array of contracts, checks, and other related documents and mementos, will be presented over a series of auctions and will offer publicly for the first time many significant items spanning decades of Chicago baseball. The check (8.25 x 3.5 inches), which has normal bank cancellation stamps and holes, displays a vertical fold, a single spindle hole, a two stray pencil marks on the front (in the upper left and right corners, respectively). In Very Good to Excellent condition overall. Reserve $200. Estimate (open).