The 1841 Abraham Lincoln Wedding Gift That Mary Never Saw

[Steve]

Firstly, I have to admit when I first posed the question to Anita I thought/misremembered the letter had been written by Mary Todd Lincoln, not "Mary Curtis". That's why I phrased the question the way I did.

I want to point out that the auction house didn't mention trying to date the watch itself. Unfortantely, I can't find "Chrismann Sons & Brown" in a Google search. I'm guessing they were based in Geneva, Switzerland and not Geneva, New York? Dating the watch separately from the inscription should be a must for an auction.

If you look closely, there's no provenance for the watch prior to 1931 when an unnamed old woman dropped it off at a local shop in Washington DC, let alone 1872. This shady background and lack of documentation of provenance can be an indicator of forgery.

The letters written by "Mary Curtis" and "Elizabeth Cob DeWitt", in and of themselves aren't really evidence without some other type of verification. Anyone can inscribe whatever they want on a watch or write out ficticious letters. I've done a search online and on Ancestry.com and can't find a "Mary Curtis" from Louisville that seems to match or any evidence for the existence of "Elizabeth Cob DeWitt" outside of the letters themselves.

On a minor sidenote, Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd broke their engagement on January 1, 1841. Why would the watch be inscribed "1841"? Or, if the watch was to be given later at their wedding why pay to inscribe "Miss Mary Todd" on it especially if they're already supposed to married?

Heritage Auctions says the watch sold for $71,700 in 2006. This news article from 2016 says the watch was for sale at a Baltimore Art, Antique and Jewelry Show for the listed price of $175,000:

https://www.atimelyperspective.com/found...mary-todd/