Rare Button Gwinnett 1735-1777 Signature an Englishman born in Gloucester, emigrated to Georgia and became a political leader representing Georgia to the Continental Congress. Button Gwinnett helped to draft the state constitution of the state of Georgia. He voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence before being killed 10 months later as the result of a duel between a political rival. This promoted the signature of Button Gwinnett to become one of the rarest and sought after signatures in the world as collector’s aim to acquire the complete set of 56 autographs from signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Of the 51 known signatures this appears to be the latest entry number 51, which is a clipped signature and was purchased from Ralph Newman in 1971 after Ralph Newman discovered two signatures within a collection of mutilated documents. It was purchased by a private collector and remained in the archives of the North Missouri Historical Society from 1993 until now. The item is a clipped piece form an unknown document and is approx. 8 x 3.5cm. The signature has faded slightly but remains clear; however there are some general wear marks and a fold mark to the piece. This item is accompanied by the original typed letter, signed by Ralph Newman on discussions regarding purchasing the item. Copies of the provenance are available upon request.