Rare copy of US Constitution sells for $41 million at Sotheby’s auction

An extremely rare official first-edition printed copy of the U.S. Constitution as adopted by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, that was auctioned off Thursday, November 18, 2021, by Sotheby’s in New York, is seen in this handout image provided by Sotheby’s. Ardon Bar-Hama/Handout via REUTERS

HONG KONG — A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution sold for $41 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Thursday.

An online cryptocurrency group that had crowdfunded over $46 million to bid for the document said on Twitter they failed to buy the document.

The extremely rare official first-edition printed copy of the U.S. Constitution, which was adopted by America’s founding fathers in Philadelphia in 1787, had been estimated by auctioneer Sotheby’s to be worth $15 million to $20 million.

It last sold for $165,000 in 1988, when it was acquired by the late S. Howard Goldman, a New York real estate developer and collector of American autographs, documents, and manuscripts.

Sale proceeds will benefit a charitable foundation in the name of his wife, Dorothy Tapper Goldman, to further the public’s understanding of democracy, according to Sotheby’s.