Two collectors submitted the winning bid of $22,000 for the 1998 e-mail message that President Clinton sent Sen. John Glenn while Glenn was aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. They also got the laptop computer on which the e-mail was typed

E-mail wins, lunch box loses in presidential auction

(CNN) -- The wealth of U.S. presidential memorabilia in an online Sotheby's auction included letters from George Washington, portraits of Abraham Lincoln and photos of John F. Kennedy.

But in the end, it was something from the Clinton era that drew the most money at the recent sale.

Two collectors bid $22,000 for the e-mail message President Bill Clinton sent Sen. John Glenn when the senator was aboard the space shuttle in 1998, becoming the oldest person in space at age 77. Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth as an astronaut in 1962. The bid included the laptop from which the message was sent.

A photograph of John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert, sold for $1,320

The lone bid came from John Reznikoff of University Archives in Westport, Connecticut, and Larry Rosenbaum of EAC Gallery in Long Island, New York.

Other top sellers in the auction of more than 140 presidential items were a signed letter from Thomas Jefferson ($14,850), a Civil War document signed by Abraham Lincoln ($6,600), several portraits of Lincoln ($2,200 and $1,320), and an invitation to President Ronald Reagan's inauguration ($1,238).

A no-parking sign from President Nixon's first inaugural went for $275.

A no-parking sign from President Richard Nixon's inauguration sold for $275

One of the most notable unsold offerings was a collection of three letters -- from presidents George Washington and Jefferson, and Connecticut Gov. Samuel Huntington -- documenting North Carolina's establishment as the 12th state of the union.

"What was most unfortunate about it is we had interest after it was closed, which happens from time to time," said Sotheby's Senior Vice President Marsha Malinowski. Putting the collection back on the block in the near future remains under discussion, she said.

Also unsold was a lunchbox decorated with signatures from a host of prominent Republicans, including presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sens. Bob Dole and Strom Thurmond, and conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly.

It was expected to go for at least $12,500.

"It was more of a curiosity item than a lot of the other items in the sale, so I'm not as shocked about that as I would have been with other things if they failed to sell," Malinowski said.

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