Emily Chan
A copy of the U.S Constitution is going up for sale in December at Sotheby’s, a New York auction house.
It is among one out of thirteen copies known to have survived throughout the decades. And it’s also one out of two that’s still privately owned.
The other copy has been in the hands of Kenneth Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, since last November. He then loaned it to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for their exhibit.
Ken acquired the document by outbidding an organization named ConstitutionDAO. He bought it for a whopping $43.2 million, breaking the record for any type of text or book sold at auction.
“The unprecedented sale result we achieved for the Constitution last November was a truly unique and inspired moment…,” said Richard Austin in a press release. He is the global head of manuscripts and books at Sotheby’s.
According to Richard, that moment signifies ‘the enduring importance and influence of the Constitution’ even over 200 years after it was first written.
The rest of the copies reside in institutional and governmental collections, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library of Congress, and the New Jersey State Archives.
Now, the historical document about to head to auction in the coming weeks is expected to sell for up to $30 million.
Since this particular copy hasn’t appeared in auction for over 125 years, it’s considered to be extremely rare.
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