By Max Matza, BBC News
A rare 237-year-old copy of the US Constitution has been sold at auction for a whopping $9m (£7m). The document was discovered in a historic building in North Carolina in 2022, inside a dusty old filing cabinet.
The copy was printed in 1787 after delegates from the colonial states met for the Constitutional Convention and drafted what would become the founding document of the US federal government.
There are believed to be only eight copies like this one left in existence, and seven of them are publicly owned. The identity of the buyer – who placed bids by phone – was not disclosed. The bids came in at $50,000 increments and Thursday’s sale took just seven minutes.
The Constitution was uncovered two years ago at a historical plantation once owned by Samuel Johnston, who was the North Carolina governor at the time the document was written.
In 1983, a copy of the Declaration of Independence found at the same property sold for $412,500, but the copy of the Constitution was somehow not discovered until 2022.
Along with the draft Constitution was a letter signed by George Washington – who would go on to become the first American president – asking that each state ratify the document.
“To secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each and yet provide for the interest and safety for all – individuals entering into society must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest,” Washington wrote.
The last time a US Constitution like this went under the gavel was in 1891, and it sold for $400.
The auction took place in Asheville, and had been delayed after Hurricane Helene brought widespread destruction to the region last month.
