Frequently Asked Questions

Each hand-signed document has been authenticated and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by our parent company Gallery of History Inc. The term of the COA is 10 years from the date of purchase and is valid to the original purchaser only.

We have an outstanding reputation for the thoroughness of our research, for our business integrity and for our service to our clients. We financially stand behind our COA which is one of the main reasons we've been able to stay in business for so long (since 1981)!

The National Archives was established in 1932 and its doors were opened in 1935. Since our country was founded in 1776 there were a lot of intervening years where docuemnts resided in private hands. Prior to the creation of the National Archives, the Library of Congress acted as a repository for historical documents however it was established in 1800. This means that for 24 years between 1776 and 1800 some very significant pieces of history were in private hands. The bottom line is that our government was late in realizing the need for preserving and procuring our nation's history. Much of this has to do with the fact that as a democracy the organization of our country often works on a decentralized level. By virtue of working on a decentralized basis, preserving and curating U.S. history was not filtered through to the top as a national priority.

The preconception of most Americans that our documents are locked up comes from the European historical experience which is much longer-lived than American history. Europe was organized by monarchies. These Monarchies maintained centralization of power and information and, therefore, it follows that Europe's significant documents were maintained by the governments.

Organic acids and ultraviolet rays of light destroy paper and make ink fade over time. Each purchase from our company comes to you appropriately protected. Our unframed items are sent to you in either archival acid-free Mylar® sleeves or in Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene clear envelopes (which are archival and acid-free) or are encapsulated in acid-free Mylar. Our Gallery of History styled framed items are encapsulated in Mylar to guard against organic acids, mounted in an acid-free environment and are framed behind UF3-AR Plexiglas which blocks approximately 94% of the ultraviolet light.