A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution just sold for millions of dollars
A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution — discovered just two years ago at a former slave plantation in North Carolina — was just sold for $9 million at an auction.
The 237-year-old document is the only copy of the Constitution known to be privately owned. On Thursday, it was sold by Brunk Auctions in biding that closed after less than eight minutes.
Bids quickly came in at increments of $50,000, mostly over the phone. After a short lull following an $8.5 million bid, another person called in to put down $9 million. It’s unclear who the buyer is at this time.
“Just another second or two. Savor it a little bit selling here at nine million,” Andrew Brunk, the auctioneer, said, The Associated Press reported.
The newly unearthed copy of the Constitution was found at Hayes Farm, a plantation near Edenton, North Carolina, once owned by Samuel Johnston and now by the state. The document was originally sent to Johnston, the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789, after the Constitutional Convention but before the original 13 colonies ratified the document.
One hundred copies were produced, but a much smaller number were signed by Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson and sent to each state for review. The Hayes Farm document is one of only eight known surviving signed ratification copies.
“One of the most important documents in all of history, this printing is deceptively simple in appearance, with none of the flourishes we are familiar with,” the item’s Brunk Auctions lot description reads. “The idea that our new government would be born only after being affirmed by the voice of the people was in a way even more revolutionary than the Declaration of Independence.”
Appraiser Ken Farmer originally came to Hayes Farm to appraise the plantation’s antiques, after descendants of Johnston’s son’s business partner sold the property to the state of North Carolina, following more than 150 years of owning the home. While there, he found the Hayes Constitution, along with a letter from George Washington asking for ratification.
The auction was supposed to be held on Sept. 28, the 237th anniversary of the day Congress passed the ratification resolution, before it was delayed because of Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of North Carolina. On Thursday, a watermarked 1776 first draft of the Articles of Confederation and a 1778 Journal of the Convention of North Carolina were also sold.
In 2021, Sotheby’s sold one of the 14 remaining copies of the Constitution at an auction. That copy was purchased for $43.2 million by Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, who outbid a group of cryptocurrency investors.
