o/t, looking for someone knowledgable in historical documents

[billyb]

I know this is not baseball, but it seems you guys have a wealth of knowledge and am hoping to tap into some of that knowledge which is out of the ordinary.
A recent pre 1800 bank book has come up for sale, oldest known bank book and issued by the first bank of NY. The bank book original owner was a 5x great grandfather of mine, but I have no idea what family has put this up for sale.
The original owner has a political history himself, and in this book it appears money was donated to known politicians, all lumped together on same stub. Hamilton (Alexander), Kent (a known Federalist) and Lee(Henry/Harry Lee was associate of James Kent and father of General Robert E. Lee, the father was also a Virginia congressman). A fourth I cannot read.
I have an idea why the money was donated but it is just speculation. There was something called the "panic of 1796 - 1797", and was like a stock market crash. Some high influential politicians went to prison because they could not pay their debts. Henry Lee was at least one of these.
Some of this information the book broker is not aware of.
I am not into historical documents, but because it is family, I am interested, but the selling price is 15K, I think too high.
If anyone has some knowledge in historical documents, especially in potential value, please send me a Pm.

Thank You

158914

158893

[sbfinley]

Seems fairly high considering a lack of a prominent signature/signatures, but I don't know the historical document market that well. Cool piece considering the family connection though!

[billyb]

Thanks Steven,
Actually, there are no signatures inside except for Robert Boyd, as far as I know.
Brooklyn has a historical museum and Robert Boyd is in that museum. Alexander Hamilton and Kent were involved in the creation of the Federalist papers, a prelude to our constitution. Robert Boyd's son has some hand in there somehow also. His name was Samuel Boyd, and a set of Federalist papers were in his personal library. Every title page had his signature. He also was an attorney for Hamilton, and they together with a few other men, created the Saturday Evening Post.
So connection with Hamilton was strong.
It is hard to judge a value on an item without knowing all the facts, so forgive my rambling on.

[pariah1107]

These are remarkable but I'd hesitate to put a fixed value on them without further research....

[billyb]

Ty,
Yes, understand completely. Hopefully, will have family member taking a look at the item in person, if they will allow us to do so.

[ramram]

I do some collecting in early manuscript pieces.

With regard to value, it seems Book Sellers and Manuscript Sellers usually price items about 5 to 10 times their actual value. Also, I always ask myself "what really makes this piece historically interesting to me and to other collectors (in case you are ever planning to unload it)".

With this item, I just don't see any real demand. No autographs of importance and no definable tie to any important event. I only see it as interesting to a descendent (you) or possibly the Bank of New York. Personally, I think their best potential buyer is you - but not at that kind of price.

Just my personal thoughts,
Rob M.

[billyb]

Rob,

Thank you, that is why I asked members here to respond so as I can get an unbiased opinion. I appreciate your response. Would I resell it, I doubt if I would. I would probably donate it to either the Library of Congress or to the museum in Brooklyn where Robert is already displayed, especially if resale value is not too strong.
Think I will have to take a step back from this item for the time being. It may come down in price.
Thank you Rob