Famous Collector Discovers ‘Something We’ve Never Seen Before’

Rare WWII Artifact Going for $100,000

A photograph that became a memento, with the signatures of Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as the British and American workers who cooperated in an exchange to tour their allies’ industries. Courtesy of the Raab Collection

Significant moments in history are often misremembered, even forgotten. Artifacts may be misplaced or discarded. For people like Nathan Raab, the misplaced and forgotten are his métier.

Raab is a principal at The Raab Collection, a Pennsylvania-based business that specializes in discovery, purchase, and selling of rare historical documents and artifacts. Those pieces have ranged from George Washington’s presidential address to Theodore Roosevelt’s “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick” letter to Stephen Hawking’s first signed publishing contract.