Excessively Rare Presidential Check Signed by Zachary Taylor

Exactly why Zachary Taylor's checks are so rare as to make this a singular example, is not definitely known - though one might suppose that the burning of his house, by Union troops during the Civil War, went a long way to destroying his personal papers. Taylor, a career soldier, wrote this check to himself while stationed in Lousiana. His was the oblivion of a frontier command, at which he earned $60 a month. He had little opportunity to distinguish himself, but he did manage, right about then, to acquire the first of his Louisiana plantations. This check may very well have been written in connection with its purchase.

Check Signed, twice, as "Z. Taylor, partially-printed and emblazoned by the Seal of the United States, accomplished in autograph; 1 page, oblong duodecimo, New Orleans, December 4, 1827, drawn on the "Office Bank United States New-Orleans", the sum of two hundred dollars made payable to himself, as "Col. Z. Taylor." There is a faint vertical fold at center.