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BENJAMIN ALTMAN (1840-1913) Altman was the son of Bavarian Jews who emigrated to America in 1835 and opened a small store, B. Altman & Co., in New York City in 1865. He moved the business to Fifth Avenue in 1906. Shortly before his death in 1913, he founded the Altman Foundation, which owned B. Altman & Co. until 1985. Benjamin Altman died without heirs. He was an avid collector of Rembrandt paintings and china, which were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Benjamin Altman has signed this check in black fountain pen. The check is written in a bolder black fountain pen, dated Nov. 8th 1905 No. 1437 Chemical National Bank of New York Payable to the order of Michaelis & Lindeman $38.00 Thirty-Eight and no/100- Dollars. The cancellation marks in the middle of the check are not even near Altman's signature.