Inside JFK 50th anniversary auction: Never-before-seen items to be sold

The 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination is Friday. It's also the first day of a remarkable auction, featuring nearly 10,000 items connected to JFK and his era. Many of the artifacts have never been seen in public.

The JFK assassination: As it happened JFK 50: A look at November 22, 1963In-depth look back at the assassination

The storefront on Main Street in Amesbury, Mass., is modest, but inside the John McInnis Auction House, they've collected some extraordinary pieces of Kennedy memorabilia.

Included in the auction is the president's Cape Cod rocking chair with his initials inscribed on it. It's one of more than a dozen he used. Some have sold for more than $400,000.

Also included are 50 presidential bill-signing pens that were used by President Kennedy, and after he passed, Lyndon Johnson.

Dan Meader, manager of John McInnis Auctioneers, said they are pens that signed some of the most notable bills of the 20th century, including the Civil Rights Act, the Food Stamp Act, as well as one pen that signed a bill to expand the space program to put a man on the Moon.

Meader said a single pen that signed the Cuban Missile Crisis legislation sold for $28,000.

Also in the auction: a complete set of the Warren Commission Report on the Kennedy Assassination presented to former CIA chief, Allen Dulles, and signed by Dulles and all his fellow commission members.

Also included is an autographed picture from high school which Kennedy presented to his best friend Lem Billings in 1935. Meader said of the photo, "That's pretty much the oldest known signed image of the future president."

There are whimsical items, too, including a bar of soap from the White House during President Kennedy's administration. Meader said, laughing, "It could break a world record for a bar of soap."

Among the more than 1,600 lots are many classic photographs, some with their original negatives, such as ones from a 1953 Life magazine spread, when Jackie and Jack were first engaged.

And for Jackie fans: letters to her personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman as she planned out her inaugural outfits, including her own sketches of hat designs. One reads, "In some cases a hat can serve two or more costumes. Needless to say, I want to economize wherever possible."

And then there's this script, used by Rat Pack actor and Kennedy brother-in-law Peter Lawford to introduce Marilyn Monroe at the president's birthday party at Madison Square Garden. Meader said, "It says, "Peter: Mr. President, the late Marilyn Monroe'."

Of course, what came next is history -- Monroe singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."

Watch Anthony Mason's full report above.