A copy from the first print of the US Constitution sold for more than $43 million on Thursday night – a world record for a historic document at auction, Sotheby’s said.
Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images
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Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images
A copy from the first print of the US Constitution sold for more than $43 million on Thursday night – a world record for a historic document at auction, Sotheby’s said.
Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images
An unprecedented, community-funded attempt to purchase an extremely rare copy of the US Constitution came about on a brief Thursday night, when a group of more than 17,000 people pooled their money at a price. higher in an auction for historical documents.
The Constitution is sold to $43.2 million, setting a new record for the most ever paid for a book, historical document or printed text, according to Sotheby’s, the company that handled the sale. The winning bid is more than double the top estimate of $20 million that the Constitution is expected to collect.
During Thursday night’s auction, Sotheby’s said the team called ConstitutionDAO locked in an “eight-minute phone bidding war” with an unspecified opponent, as Sotheby’s representatives told bidders and constantly raise your hand to send the winning bid higher and higher. The auction house did not disclose the name of the auction winner.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, we are still making history tonight,” leaders of the ConstitutionDAO said in a statement. Message for sponsors. “This is the largest crowdfunding for a physical object that we know of – crypto or fiat. We are incredibly grateful to have done this together with all of you and still suffer. shocked that we even achieved this.”
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ConstitutionDAO has amassed over $40 million in just a few days, thanks to donations from strangers – many of whom have expressed their love for crypto and Nicolas Cage’s cinematic works. , the star of National Treasure.
The group says the average donation is $206.26. It will now refund those contributions, minus the transaction fees.
The document on sale on Thursday night was printed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787 – the final day of the Constitutional Convention chaired by George Washington and attended by delegates such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.
Only 500 copies of the Constitution were made in that first printing; Thursday night’s sale is just one of 13 left. Only two copies are known to exist outside of the institutions’ collections.
ConstitionDAO planned to find “a respected partner to publicly display the Constitution,” preferably in a context that is free to the public and subject to the costs and logistical barriers of storing the assets. historical data.
In the end, the organizers said they were pleased to see how quickly enthusiasm had poured into the project. They also note that it has helped educate more people about cryptocurrency, as well as provide insights into the worlds of historical curation and art auctions.
The DAO in the name of the bidding group refers to a decentralized autonomous organization that, like a cryptocurrency, operates using blockchain technology. Earlier this year, a DAO successfully purchase only copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s album Once upon a time in Shaolin Temple, for $4 million.
