‘A new find’: one of last documents Abraham Lincoln signed goes on sale

Rare letter valued at $45,000 that lay undiscovered in desk drawer for years bears 16th president’s signature days before his death

One of the last documents ever signed by Abraham Lincoln, which for years lay undiscovered in a desk drawer, is being offered for sale, valued at $45,000.

The 16th president signed the document, a treasury appointment for Allen Gangewer, an anti-slavery campaigner in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Washington DC, on 11 April 1865 – the day he made what would turn out to be his final speech.