A rare copy of the Constitution could be yours. Bidding starts at $1 million

Two years ago, while rummaging through old filing cabinets at Hayes Farm — a former slave plantation in North Carolina — antiques appraiser Ken Farmer made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.

In an old folder, Farmer found an even older document: it was creased with age and had marginalia scattered throughout. The text at the top of the page, however, was immediately familiar. Farmer uncovered an original ratification copy of the United States Constitution.

The newly unearthed copy was originally sent to Samuel 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 and the only copy that is privately held.

“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.”

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. Brunk Auctions will handle the sale of the Constitution, along with other artifacts dating to the earliest days of United States history. Bidding on the document is expected to begin at $1 million.

“I think it’s really neat and extraordinary a copy has been found,” Michael J. Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told the New York Times, adding that it’s “probably the most important copy of the Constitution that would exist.”

Brunk Auctions will hold the document’s sale on Sept. 28, the 237th anniversary of the day Congress passed the ratification resolution.

“This is a unique opportunity to own a cornerstone of our democracy, particularly at this time in our nation’s history,” historic document expert Seth Kaller said in a statement. Kaller was previously involved in selling a first edition copy of the Constitution in 2021. Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin purchased that copy for $43.2 million.

“The ratification copy now up for auction is rarer and arguably more significant, but the consignor gave Brunk the luxury of selling it without reserve, with a starting bid of $1,000,000,” Kaller said. “The market will decide what the Constitution is worth to us today.”

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