Family finds rare signed copy of the US Constitution while moving out of the house

People find unusual things while clearing up an old house and moving out, which is probably pretty common. But finding an original signed copy of the American Constitution in a cabinet is something that has never happened before. The Constitution, written and signed in 1787, was discovered in a North Carolina home in 2022 and would go up on auction soon, as reported by The New York Times. An appraiser, Ken Farmer, found the document in a folder inside a dusty file cabinet in the mansion. It was evident that the document was from the 18th or 19th century.

However, the surprise increased when the person spotted that it was the American Constitution. When he reached the last page, he realized he was holding onto a true piece of history as the Constitution was one of the eight copies signed by Charles Thompson, the secretary of Congress, of the Constitutional Convention. "I've never found anything this exciting," Farmer told the outlet. The copy will soon go up for an auction set up by Brunk Auctions and is expected to be sold for millions of dollars. "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 specializing in the history of the US Constitution, expressed.

According to the professor, the document is a crucial part of history because it is well-preserved, has Charles Thompson's signature and is the ratified version. He went as far as to say that it might be the vital version of the Constitution out there. John Kaminski, an expert in the Constitution's history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained how when the Constitutional Convention came to a close and finalized a draft of the Constitution, the last step was to send out 100 copies to the states, so at least 9 of the 13 original colonies could ratify it and make it obligatory for the government of the nation. The auction site pointed out that the copy that has been found is "The only located privately held copy."

The bid is currently at $1,100,000. Samuel Johnston, governor of North Carolina from 1787 to 1789, had previously owned the house where Famer found the copy, as per the outlet. Johnston was the first person to live there before the property was handed over to his son's business partner, Edward Wood, in 1865. The house is now known as the Hayes House. The house was with the family until they sold it for over $6 billion in 2022, as per The Carolina Journal. The Instagram video from BRUNK AUCTIONS (@brunkauctions), read, "This is possibly the rarest and most important version of the founding document of modern democracy."

In another video, Lauren Brunk from BRUNK AUCTIONS revealed that the family was preparing to give the house to a foundation when the document was found. The document will go up for auction on September 28 and the starting bid for more than a million dollars has already been met, as per CBS News. Seth Keller, an expert on historical documents, told the outlet, "It wouldn't surprise if it would go for 20 million dollars or so."