1918 Charles Comiskey Endorsed Chicago Cubs Check - PSA/DNA

Sold For:

$990

Year:

1918

Auction:

2021 Spring

Lot #:

2215

Category:

Autographed Baseballs/Flats/Photos

Chicago Cubs business check, dated September 14, 1918, issued to the American League Baseball Club of Chicago 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 $30.00. 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," has 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.) We do not know specifically what this payment to the White Sox represents. 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 two vertical folds (one is heavier than the other), a single small hole, and a stray pencil mark on the front in the upper left corner. In Very Good to Excellent condition overall. Encapsulated as Authentic by PSA/DNA. Reserve $500. Estimate (open).