This slain founding father has more fans than ever, thanks to a Broadway musical about his life and a debate over his place on the $10 bill.
CLOSTER -- Alexander Hamilton has more fans than ever, thanks to a Broadway musical about his life and a debate over his place on the $10 bill.
On Jan. 11--Hamilton's birthday--true devotees can try to buy a rare piece of Hamilton memorabilia: an engraved powder horn that supposedly belonged to the slain founding father.
The cow horn is engraved with Hamilton's name, the year 1773, and the words "First when when [sic] came to Ohio. There are also images, most prominently a unicorn.
Warren Richman, a Clifton dentist, acquired the horn from a patient in 1990 and commissioned a Hamilton descendant, an appraiser and a handwriting expert to verify that the horn was Hamilton's.
Richman has also done extensive research on the horn, and believes the symbols on the horn represented different things to Hamilton: The unicorn, branded with a symbol from the Hamilton coat-of-arms, representing fortune and his Scottish roots; a fenced-in estate symbolizing the wealth to which he aspired; a roundel of sticks tied with rope, a Roman symbol of authority; and another roundel with cinquefoils, also taken from the Hamilton coat-of-arms.
Stephen D'Atri, owner of Sterling Associates, the company auctioning the horn, said Hamilton would have carried it everywhere.
"You're not just getting something that belonged to him you're getting some of his beliefs that he put down on the horn," D'Atri said.
D'Atri said the horn and the writing have been verified as being of the period. There is no way to know, however, if Hamilton was carrying the horn in Weehawken on July 11, 1804, during his fateful duel with Aaron Burr.
Burr ended a life that saw Hamilton sign the Constitution and serve as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton also established Paterson as the nation's first planned industrial city, powered by the Great Falls.
The opening bid at the auction is $10,000. Sterling has already received some bids, D'Atri said.
Richman hopes the buyer will donate it to a museum. Bids can be placed over the phone, online or in person at Sterling Associates. Visit their website for details.
Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.