Potter & Potter Auctions announced the results of its 426-lot event specializing in Historical Memorabilia held on Feb. 5. The auction had a 92 percent sell through rate. All prices noted include a 20 percent buyers premium. The top lot was a George Washington (1732-1799) clipped free frank signature. Estimated at $4,000 to $6,000, it delivered $12,000. The signature swatch measured 1.625 by 3 inches, and was framed under glass together with a silk ribbon commemorating the U.S. Centennial. The ribbon read 1776 1876 Centennial/USA/The Father of our Country/George Washington/The First in Peace/The First in War/The First in The/Hearts of His/Countrymen/Philadelphia 1876. Another top political lot was a framed Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) signature and engraved portrait, estimated at $3,000 to $5,000, selling for $11,875. This example was double matted, measured 14.25 by 10.25 inches overall. It was inscribed, signed, and dated in ink Let this man be dis-charged. / A. Lincoln / Feb. 17, 1864. The portrait was an engraving by J.C. Buttre, N.Y., from a photograph by M.B. Bailey. A 19th-century fractional currency shield was estimated at $1,000 to $2,000 and made $4,250. This 32-by-28.5-inch matted and framed example had an engraved backing, with mounted specimen notes in various denominations between three and 50 cents. These shields were produced by the U.S. Treasury Department and were used to help banks detect counterfeit currencies. The Athenian Mercury Vol. 9 Number 6 from 1692 was estimated at $500 to $700 and delivered $3,840. It was printed in London for John Dunton at the Raven Pultrey. This publication featured an advertisement for Cotton Mathers book on witch trials at the start of column one on the front page. It noted, in part, In those remarkable TRYALS OF WITCHES published this week by Mr. Mather, tis said that Nineteen Witches have been lately executed at New-England, and that there is an Hundred Witches still in Prison, Committed upon the Accusation of fifty Witches, some of Boston, but more about Salem and the Towns adjacent: This relation is very strange and surprizing, I therefore desire your Sentiments on it? Presidential autographs were a high point in the auction, and with the semiquincentennial approaching, it was not surprising to see Washingtons signature as the top lot of the day, according to Joe Slabaugh, Potter & Potter Auctions director of cataloging. For more information, visit www.potterauctions.com.