{"id":55308,"date":"2024-10-27T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-10-27T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/?p=55308"},"modified":"2024-10-26T22:05:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T02:05:13","slug":"a-rare-copy-of-the-u-s-constitution-fetches-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2024\/10\/a-rare-copy-of-the-u-s-constitution-fetches-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rare Copy Of The U.S. Constitution Fetches Millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"paragraph<\/a>A rare 237-year-old copy of the U.S. Constitution<\/a> sold at a North Carolina auction, becoming one of the most expensive historical documents to recently change hands. Printed in 1787, shortly after the Framers drafted the nation’s governing blueprint, copies were sent to the governors of the thirteen states for ratification. The copy recently sold in North Carolina is believed to be the only one remaining in private ownership.<\/p>\n

This rare Constitution is one of around a hundred copies originally printed by Charles Thomson<\/a>, the secretary of the Continental Congress. Only eight are known to still exist, with the other seven housed in public collections. The document was accompanied by a letter from George Washington urging the states to ratify the new Constitution, stressing the need for compromise for the nation’s long-term viability. Its history before 2022 remains largely unknown; it was rediscovered inside a dusty filing cabinet in Edenton, North Carolina, during the restoration of a house once owned by Samuel Johnston<\/a>, the state’s former governor. Its presence there is significant, as Johnston played a key role in guiding the state through the ratification process in 1789.<\/p>\n

Bidding started at $1 million and lasted just over seven minutes, with bids coming in mostly over the phone. At $8.5 million, the bidding slowed to a pause. But after a few tense moments, a final phone bid of $9 million ($11.07 million w\/p) clinched the deal.\u00a0 The last time a constitution like this went under the gavel was in 1891, and it sold for $400.<\/p>\n

That evening, the Constitution wasn’t the only high-profile item on the auction block. A first draft of the Articles of Confederation sold for $1 million ($1.23 million w\/p), while a journal from North Carolina’s 1788 Constitutional Convention fetched $85K ($104.5K w\/p). The sale of these artifacts reflects a growing interest among collectors in securing pieces of America’s early history, particularly as such documents become rarer and more valuable over time. As for the buyer, their identity remains undisclosed, shrouding the Constitution’s next chapter in a bit of mystery.<\/p>\n

On a side note, you may recall that I wrote about another early version<\/a> of the Constitution (before Congress added the ratification resolution) bought by Ken Griffin at auction for $43 million in 2021.\u00a0 The following year, another copy known as the Adrian van Sinderen Constitution, was offered for sale with an estimate of $20-30 million (one of 500 copies printed in 1787 by John Dunlap and David Claypoole – only 13 are known to exist). Before the sale was to begin, the auction room canceled the sale, postponing it to “provide interested institutional parties with additional time to pursue fundraising efforts.” Well, I would think enough time has gone by, and I haven’t heard about a sale of the document… guess we will have to continue this waiting game to see how it gets written down in the history books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A rare 237-year-old copy of the U.S. Constitution sold at a North Carolina auction, becoming one of the most expensive historical documents to recently change hands. Printed in 1787, shortly after the Framers drafted the nation’s governing blueprint, copies were … More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[1210,207,134,20,1211,1209,589],"class_list":["post-55308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rehs-galleries","category-rehs-contemporary","tag-american","tag-auction-news","tag-auction-records","tag-auction-results","tag-history","tag-north-carolina","tag-us-constitution"],"yoast_head":"\nA Rare Copy Of The U.S. Constitution Fetches Millions - Rehs Galleries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A rare copy of the U|.S. 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