The portrait shows a lanky, clean-shaven young man in his Sunday best. But was it an honest Abe?
Buyers didn't think so, and the 1843 daguerreotype that some say is one of the earliest known images of Abraham Lincoln failed to sell at an auction Tuesday."It's a fitting ending and just closure to the piece," dealer and daguerreotype collector William L. Schaeffer said. "Probably fewer than 1 percent of any collectors or experts ever believed it was a Lincoln."
The daguerreotype, titled "Portrait of a Gentleman, Believed to be Abraham Lincoln," was taken off the Christie's auction block after it failed to make the minimum bid. The minimum was not disclosed, but the high bid was $150,000.