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Incredible pair of WWII-dated ‘short snorter’ banknotes bearing ink signatures of the leaders of the 'Big Three' Allied countries during World War II—Franklin Roosevelt ("Franklin D. Roosevelt"), Winston Churchill ("Winston S. Churchill"), and Joseph Stalin ("J. Stalin"), the latter two of which have signed on a Persian five-rial banknote, 2.5 x 4.75, which also contains signatures of U.S. Army Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold. The Roosevelt signature is found on a Turkish 10-lira banknote, 2.5 x 6, which is signed by Turkish President Ismet Inonu, is also signed by several of Roosevelt’s inner circle, such as Admirals William Leahy and Wilson Brown, Major General Edwin M. Watson, advisor Harry Hopkins, son-in-law Clarence John Boettiger, physician Ross T. McIntire, and massage therapist George A. Fox.
Also includes six additional signed ‘short snorter’ banknotes, with examples form Bermuda, Egypt, Iceland, Algeria, Allied military currency issued for Italy, and a U.S. one dollar silver certificate, which are all signed by various dignitaries and officers including actor Clark Gable, Air Force General Hoyt Vandenberg, Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, and many others that undertook the journey. In overall fine condition.
These historical signatures were obtained by Lt. Richard F. Brown, a pilot for the Army Air Corps assigned to a transport aircraft that, when not ferrying critical military supplies, flew high-ranking officers and other V.I.P.s. On November 20, 1943, Brown served as the co-pilot on the aircraft ferrying Franklin Roosevelt from La Senia, Algeria to Tunis, Tunisia, and then, two days later, to Cairo for a meeting with Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek. On November 27th, FDR flew to Tehran for a meeting with both Churchill and Joseph Stalin, Roosevelt's first meeting with the Soviet leader, which is now famously known as the Tehran Conference.
Accompanied by a handwritten letter from Brown to Robert Parks, a member of the Research Department in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, who sends thanks for sending him a log of FDR’s trip to Africa and the Middle East: “Reading the log again brings back many good memories of a most interesting trip. I felt so very privileged meeting and being with President Roosevelt and his top military officers.”
Included is a modern print of FDR, Churchill, and Stalin at the Tehran Conference, and a biographical summary of Brown’s life, written by his son, which reads, in part: “My father was raised in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and attended the University of Florida before interrupting his studies to join the Army Air Corps at the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II. He flew multi-engine transport aircraft containing high-priority items such as weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies, as well as transporting VIP personnel and evacuating wounded soldiers from various combat theaters. In 1943, my father was the Co-Pilot for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's aircraft, flying President Roosevelt to the historic Egyptian and Iranian summit meetings with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.”
Held at the U.S.S.R.'s embassy in the Iranian capital, the historic Tehran Conference was the first of the World War II conferences of the 'Big Three' Allied leaders, preceding the Yalta and Potsdam conferences of 1945. The main outcome of the meeting was the Western Allies' commitment to open a second front against Nazi Germany, laying the groundwork for 'Operation Overlord'—the invasion of Normandy—in 1944. It also marked the beginning of discussions on the division of Europe and the post-war settlement, foreshadowing the tensions of the emerging Cold War. The conference elevated the status of the Soviet Union as a global power and affirmed the principles of democracy, self-determination, and human rights as central to the Allied vision for the post-war world. In essence, the Tehran Conference solidified the Allied commitment to defeating Nazi Germany and laid the foundation for the geopolitical landscape of the 20th century.
