Just eight of these copies are known to still exist, and the other seven are publicly owned.
Brunk Auctions
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After centuries hidden in a North Carolina filing cabinet, a 237-year-old piece of American history is headed to auction.
An incredibly rare copy of the United States Constitution, signed by Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson, will soon be up for sale at Brunk Auctions in Asheville. Bidding will begin at $1 million, but “it is expected to sell for much more.”
This copy was printed in 1787, after the Constitutional Convention finished drafting a proposed framework for the new nation’s government. About 100 copies were printed by Thomson and sent to the congress requesting they send it to the states to be ratified by the people. Experts believe that 26—two for each of the 13 states—were signed. Members of special ratifying conventions spent months going back and forth before accepting the structure the founders put forth.
Just eight of these copies are known to still exist, and the other seven are publicly owned.
Brunk Auctions
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“James Madison wrote that the Constitution ‘was nothing more than a draft of a plan, nothing but a dead letter, until life and validity were breathed into it by the voice of the people, speaking through several State Conventions,’” auctioneer Andrew Brunk said in a statement. “This simple looking version is what started breathing life into the Constitution.”
The copy, deemed one of the most important printed in history, was discovered at Hayes Farm, a 184-acre plantation in Edenton, North Carolina, in 2022. The property was purchased in 1765 by Samuel Johnston, who served as governor of North Carolina from 1787-1789 and presided over the state’s two ratification conventions. In 1865, it was acquired by the Wood family, who lived in and preserved it for seven generations.
Brunk Auctions
The filing cabinet where the copy was found.” src=” class=”caas-img”/>
Brunk Auctions
The filing cabinet where the copy was found.
The document was reportedly found inside an old filing cabinet in a storage room while the property was being cleared out and sold to the state of North Carolina for conservation and transformation into a public historic site.
The ratification copy of the Constitution will be sold at Brunk Auctions on September 28—the 237th anniversary of the day Congress passed the ratification resolution.
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 07:40:00
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