A rare photograph that captures the moment after JFK was assassinated in Dallas will sell through Cowan's Auctions on November 15 - just one week before the 50th commemoration of the tragic event.

In the bottom shot, Kennedy holds his neck just one-sixth of a second after the bullet hit

The photograph was taken by spectator Mary Ann Moorman Krahmer as the president's car rolled through Dallas, and shows John F Kennedy clutching his neck. It is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $75,000.

The photograph was taken one-sixth of a second after the bullet hit President Kennedy, at 12:30pm on November 22, 1963. This was the first of three shots taken by Lee Harvey Oswald from the nearby Texas School Book Depository.

Now 81, Moorman described the moment the image was taken using her Polaroid instant camera, saying she heard: "A pow! A pause. Then two shots, 'pow! pow!,' in rapid succession."

"We were so close to the car, 10 to 12 feet away," she explained to the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I heard Jackie yell: 'My God! He's been shot!'"  

A reporter hurried over to Moorman Krahmer as soon as the crowd had dispersed and asked to see her photograph, but she has managed to hold on to the unique shot ever since, despite being plagued with requests to buy it.

Moorman Krahmer did try to sell the photograph at Sotheby's recently, but the Kennedy family intervened, having held a long relationship with the auction house. According to Sotheby's, the photo is "too sensitive to auction".

RR Auction is currently holding an auction dedicated to JFK memorabilia, starring the window from which Oswald made his shot. Philip Weiss Auctions is offering a Lee Harvey Oswald handwritten letter from 1963.

As the world marks the 50th year since the assassination, the market for Kennedy memorabilia will attract global attention, with values expected to rocket. Buy now before prices rise, with our fantastic selection of President Kennedy memorabilia for sale.