This founding father must not have had many split ends.
A lock of George Washington’s hair sold at auction Friday for $35,763.60, according to Leland’s, the auction house that sold America’s first president’s luscious hair.
The starting bid for the lot was $2,500.
The hair follicles came attached to a letter signed by former Secretary of State James A. Hamilton, the third son of Alexander Hamilton, and dated March 20, 1871. The letter, addressed to a woman named Eleanor G. Collins, included the hair as a show of Hamilton’s “respect and regard” for her, according to the letter.
The locks can be seen gathered together with string and attached to the top of the stationery with sealing wax. The hair and letterhead are vintage matted and framed.
Hamilton identified the hair as belonging to Washington in the letter as well.
Leland’s says that the 5.31 inches of Washington’s hair emanated from the family of Alexander Hamilton.
The auction house says it usually avoids auctioning off pieces of hair due to “lack of strands and insufficient authenticity,” however, this piece was an exception. Leland’s states on the lot’s page that in this case, “the lock itself is hefty which is unusual as many of the early hair examples…of famous persons,” adding that the artifact “carries the original paper label from the sale.”