What was supposed to be a regular night at the theater turned deadly in 1865.
A pair of front-row tickets from the performance that President Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was shot in 1865 are up for auction — and are expected to sell for over $80,000.
President Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., while he was attending a performance of “Our American Cousin,” according to the Library of Congress.
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The performance would forever be known as the show Lincoln was viewing when he was assassinated.
The tickets, now up for auction a second time, are being sold through Remarkable Rarities Auctions — and are for front-row seats.
The pair of tickets up for auction were sold in 2002 for over $83,000. (RR Auction)
The stubs appear to be stamped with the wording “Ford’s Theatre, APR 14, 1865, This Night Only,” as a spokesperson for RR Auction told Fox News Digital.
The right side of the tickets are clipped, signifying they were presented for admission, and are said to be in “good condition.”
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The tickets are known to be authentic, as another ticket from the same night is currently housed at Harvard University’s Houghton Library — and has an identical stamp with the April 14 date.
Ford’s Theatre tickets from the night that president Abraham Lincoln was assassinated are up for auction. (RR Auction)
The pair of tickets currently being auctioned were sold originally in 2002 — and went for over $83,000, according to Christie’s Auction.
RR Auction is the auction company selling the new pair of resurfaced admission tickets.
The online bidding for the rare pair of tickets has begun and will be followed by a live auction on September 23.
RR Auction executive vice president Bobby Livingston said in a media statement that the pair of tickets are rare and special — as the seats were facing the box Lincoln was sitting in during the performance.
One of the signs the ticket is real is a stamp showing the date of admission, the auction house said. (RR Auction)
“This pair of front row Ford’s Theatre tickets, which were facing Lincoln’s box, allowed the original theatergoers to witness America’s most tragic performance,” said Livingston.
The online bidding for the rare pair of tickets has begun and will be followed by a live auction on September 23.
Lincoln was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth.
Lincoln, the 16th president, died on April 15, 1865, at the age of 56. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
During one of the funniest lines of the play, Booth entered the presidential box — and fired a shot into the president’s head, according to the Ford’s Theatre website.
The bullet hit Lincoln’s left ear and went behind his right eye, according to the Library of Congress.
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“At the moment the president was shot he was leaning his hand on the railing, looking down at a person in the orchestra, holding the flag that decorated the box aside to look between it and the post,” according to the witness statement of James P. Ferguson, an audience member that night.
Engraving from 1886 depicting John Wilkes Booth preparing to shoot President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. (iStock)
Lincoln, gravely wounded, was transported across the street to the Petersen boarding house, the Ford’s Theatre website says.
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The 16th president died the next day, on April 15, 1965, roughly nine hours after he was shot.
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For more information on the tickets that are up for auction and how to bid, visit rrauction.com.
Christine Rousselle of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
