Rare 1787 US Constitution copy goes up for auction

A rare 237-year-old copy of the U.S. Constitution is up for auction in North Carolina, with bids already starting at $1 million. Brunk Auctions is handling the sale of the document, believed to be the only privately owned copy of its kind. There is no reserve price set for the auction.

This particular copy was printed in 1787 after the Constitutional Convention completed its draft of the nation’s framework. It was then sent to Congress under the Articles of Confederation, requesting that the states ratify it.

Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress , printed about 100 copies of the document. Only eight are known to still exist, with the other seven held in public collections.

The history of this specific copy remains unclear. Thomson likely signed two copies for each of the original 13 states, but the whereabouts of this document over the centuries is largely unknown. It resurfaced just two years ago in Edenton, North Carolina, during the clearing of a property once owned by Samuel Johnston, North Carolina’s governor in the late 1780s.

The Constitution was found in a metal filing cabinet in a neglected room filled with old furniture.

Along with the Constitution, the document included a letter from George Washington, urging states to ratify the document and noting the need for compromise to secure the nation’s future.

Auction officials have not estimated what the final sale price might be, as few similar sales offer comparison.

The last time a comparable copy of the Constitution sold was in 1891 for $400. However, in 2021, Sotheby’s auctioned a different copy, printed for the Continental Congress, for $43.2 million, setting a record for a book or document.

Other historic items up for auction include a first draft of the 1776 Articles of Confederation and a journal from North Carolina’s 1788 convention, where representatives debated whether to ratify the Constitution.

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