Gibson Offering $59,000 Reward For Lost Shipping Ledgers

Gibson is launching a global search for some key missing shipping ledgers from 1959-1960. The Gibson family is asking for assistance in recovering the missing 1959-60 ledgers, and upon validation of the ledgers’ authenticity, the person or persons who safely returns the books will receive a $59,000.00 cash reward, with zero questions asked.

The 1959-1960 Gibson ledgers contain the shipping records of all the Gibson guitars created during that year, and proudly documents an important period in Gibson’s 126-year old history — the pinnacle of the Gibson Golden Era. The 1959-1960 shipping ledgers in question disappeared from Gibson’s archives around 30 years ago.

In addition, Gibson is seeking to recover pre-1970 documents, blueprints, and unique Gibson historical assets. Gibson is willing to evaluate relevant items and individual rewards terms on a case-by-case basis. The company reserves the right to validate information and to authenticate materials as genuine articles prior to issuing rewards for pre-1970 items, which may include cash, Gibson gift cards, instruments, and experiences (conditions apply).

“As a custodian of Gibson, I am very excited about this search. I hope we can recover these ledgers as they contain important information about the pinnacle of our Golden Era,” says Gibson Historical Committee member Cesar Gueikian. “It will be interesting to see where in the world they surface, given that the last time they were seen was in Michigan. While they are dusty old books to anyone else, these ledgers are part of our history, DNA, and our iconic past. These ledgers contain the shipping information, including the serial numbers and shipping party, for the most valuable guitars in history; the Gibson 1959 and 1960 bursts.”

The 1957-1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitars are some of the most intrinsically valuable in history. Only 643 of the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard were made and it has become one of the most iconic guitars in history. ‘58-‘60 guitars have been adopted by some of the world’s greatest guitarists including Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, Billy Gibbons, Joe Perry, Slash, Joe Bonamassa, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, and many more.

Validation requests (including written description, photograph/video of the items, as well as a contact email and phone number) can be sent to [email protected] or [email protected].