Abe Lincoln letter for sale

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A letter US President Abraham Lincoln wrote to a boy whose friends didn't believe he had met the commander in chief, is being sold in Philadelphia.

Lincoln sent the letter from the White House to eight-year-old George Patten two weeks after his March 1861 inauguration.

The youngster had been mocked by classmates for saying he'd met the 16th president with his father, a journalist. His teacher wrote to Lincoln to uncover the truth.

Instead, the president wrote to the boy: "Whom it may concern, I did see and talk with master George Evans Patten, last May, at Springfield, Illinois. Respectfully, A Lincoln."

The Raab Collection is offering the letter for US$60,000 (NZ$81,810).

Vice President Nathan Raab says it's the only known surviving Lincoln letter written to a child.

- AP