old hat — but maybe not lincoln ’s old hat the purported - but - maybe - not hat once owned ( possibly ) by abraham lincoln is shown at the abraham lincoln presidential library and museum back in 2012 , when the chicago sun - times first raised questions about its lineage .
| rich hein sun - times maybe it ’s just a hat .
it is the $ 6.5 million centerpiece of a major $ 25 million acquisition of lincoln artifacts in 2007 by the abraham lincoln presidential library foundation , a nonprofit that operates independently of the springfield , illinois museum .
they were part of a highly secretive effort to authenticate the hat and 1,600 lincoln - related artifacts .
details about the foundation ’s efforts to authenticate the hat are being reported for the first time by wbez .
the efforts by the abraham lincoln presidential library foundation involved a dna assessment by the fbi and a report by top curators from the smithsonian national museum of american history and chicago history museum .
that ’s the finding from a previously undisclosed fbi analysis and another investigation done by “ top curators ” from the smithsonian national museum of american history and chicago history museum .
” the focus of all the attention is a beaver fur hat .
the smithsonian and chicago museums ’ 2013 report a stovepipe hat that its springfield guardians have long insisted belonged to abraham lincoln .