Rare Copy of US Constitution Found in Filing Cabinet Sells for $9 Million in North Carolina
A rare signed ratification copy of the US Constitution printed over 230 years ago was sold for $9 million at an auction in Asheville on October 18, after being discovered in a filing cabinet in eastern North Carolina two years ago.
The document was one of about 100 printed after the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and sent to states to be ratified. Only seven other copies are known to exist.
Ahead of the sale, Brunk Auction called the document “one of the most important ever offered at auction.”
The auction house said: “This humble-looking document is the very cornerstone of our democracy.”
Images captured by the auction house show the filing cabinet where the document was found in Edenton in 2022, and the items being prepared for auction in Asheville during the summer.
In addition to the copy of the Constitution, other important early American documents, including a first draft of the Articles of Confederation and a copy of The Journal of the Convention of North Carolina at Hillsborough, were also auctioned last week.
According to reports, the documents were found at a historic property, the Hayes Farm Plantation. The estate was once owned by Samuel Johnston, the governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789, who oversaw the state convention that ratified the Constitution during his last year in office; the papers were found as the historic home was being cleared out to be sold to the state.
The auction, originally set for September 28, was moved to mid-October after Hurricane Helene caused widespread damage throughout Asheville and western North Carolina. Bidding for the Constitution took just over seven minutes, with bids coming in at $500,000 intervals mostly over the phone, reports said. Credit: Brunk Auctions via Storyful
