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A pair of tickets to Ford’s Theatre on the night of Abraham Lincoln‘s assassination have sold for an absolute fortune.
The 2 front-row balcony tickets, said to be in very good condition, made $262,500 through RR Auction, which closed the rare lot over the weekend — they’re dated “APR 14, 1865” and specifically say it’s for “Ford’s Theatre” in Washington, D.C.
Whoever owned the tickets would’ve been sitting in section D in seats 41 and 42. That would’ve put them on the opposite side of the theater from Lincoln’s balcony seats, and given them an unobstructed view of the former president’s assassination.
As you know, John Wilkes Booth — who was an actor — used his knowledge of the theater space to sneak into Lincoln’s booth during the 3rd act of “Our American Cousin,” shooting him in the head right next to First Lady Mary Todd … days after the Civil War ended.
BTW, there aren’t a whole lot of tickets from that fateful night still out there — one of them is known to be at Harvard’s Houghton Library, and it’s only half of the full ticket. The one at Harvard was even used to verify the balcony tickets that sold at auction.
Goes without saying, these rare tickets are well worth the price tag, but here’s the kicker … you could’ve gotten the same seat at the time for only 75 cents, with private boxes costing up to $10. Talk about inflation!!!