Archives International Auctions - Auction 114 June 23, 2026

Archives International Auctions - Sale 114 36 June 23, 2026 Archives International Auctions www.archivesinternational.com Ephemera - Civil War Military Connecticut 194 194 CT. CivilWar Military Bounty ClaimCorrespondence, 1866 to 1867 Connecticut, 1866-67. Lot of 4 Civil War-era military bounty and discharge payment documents relating to Sgt. Ezra T. Burgess of Company D, 16th Connecticut Volunteers. Group includes an “Application of Discharged Soldier for Additional Bounty” dated October 25, 1866 with printed eagle-and-shield vignette and notary seal; Treasury Department, Second Auditor’s Office manuscript endorsement dated March 11, 1867; completed U.S. Army bounty payment form acknowledging receipt of $100 due under the Act of July 28, 1866 for “Bounty to White and Colored Troops”; and the original envelope for the bounty payment. The “additional bounty” referenced in the documents was a supplemental federal payment authorized after the Civil War for discharged Union soldiers whose earlier bounty compensation had been incomplete or unequal. Documents reference Burgess’s enlistment, discharge at Annapolis, Maryland, and post- war compensation connected to Union Army service during the Civil War. Features manuscript signatures, official endorsements, and period governmental forms tied to Reconstruction-era veteran payments. Fine to VF condition overall with folds, toning, and handling wear. (4). Sold “AS IS” no returns accepted. �� Est. $300-500 Ephemera - Expositions Pennsylvania 195 195 PA. Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, 1926, Advertisement. Philadelphia...., Pennsylvania, 1926. Large posted advertising the Celebration of 150 Years of American Independence with a gold Medal awarded to Bethlehem Steel Corp. Large broadsheet with multiple vignettes including George Washington, Patriots, and Steel Workers. VF to XF condition. (From the Robert Kluge Collection) �� Est. $250-500 Ephemera - Historic Scandals & Scams Mosquito Territory (Honduras), 196 196 Honduras. Poyaisian Land Grant, 1834, Class B Grant for 500 Acres, I/U Signed by Sir Gregor MacGregor. Mosquito Territory (Honduras), 1834. 500 Acres, I/U, Class B Poyaisian Land Grant, S/N 655 signed by Gregor MacGregor. Black text in English and French, with elaborate coat of arms depicted at top center, featuring English and Scottish flags, faint watermarks at top. VF to XF condition with some toning, splitting, and holes along fold lines. General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 to 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to “Poyais”, a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as “Cazique”. Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor’s invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. MacGregor’s Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history. He devised a tricameral parliament and other convoluted constitutional arrangements for Poyais, drew up commercial and banking mechanisms, and designed distinctive uniforms for each regiment of the Poyaisian Army. His imaginary country had an honours system, landed titles, as well as a coat of arms. A French court tried MacGregor and three others for fraud in 1826 after he attempted a variation on the scheme there, but convicted only one of his associates. Acquitted, MacGregor attempted lesser Poyais schemes in London over the next decade. In 1838, he moved to Venezuela, where he was welcomed back as a hero. He died in Caracas in 1845, aged 58, and was buried with full military honors in Caracas Cathedral. Fascinating piece of history from a famous con man. �� Est. $230-350