A Rare Signed Copy Of The U.S. Constitution From 1787 Was Found Sitting In An Old File Cabinet In North Carolina

The copy of the Constitution was found on the former property of Samuel Johnston, who was governor of North Carolina between 1787 and 1789.

Brunk AuctionsA document similar to this one hasn’t been sold since 1891.

The U.S. Constitution is one of the most famous documents in American history. But copies of it are rare. As such, it came as a shock when a copy of the Constitution was found tucked into a file cabinet on a North Carolina farm, more than 200 years after it was drawn up.

This copy of the Constitution is one of roughly 100 that were created in 1787. Only eight ratified copies are known to survive — and this one is expected to fetch a high price at auction.

Discovering The Constitution In A Filing Cabinet

Brunk AuctionsA close-up of the Constitution discovered in North Carolina.

According to a press release from Brunk Auctions, which is overseeing the sale of the document, this copy of the U.S. Constitution was found in 2022 at Hayes Farm in Edenton, North Carolina. The farm once belonged to Samuel Johnston — the governor of North Carolina between 1787 and 1789 — and has been the site of exciting discoveries in the past. In 1983, a copy of the Declaration of Independence was found on the property.

But somehow, the copy of the Constitution went overlooked.

That changed in 2022. That year, the estate’s longtime owners were cleaning the property ahead of its transformation into a public historical site when they found the copy of the Constitution in an old filing cabinet.

Brunk AuctionsThe filing cabinet where the U.S. Constitution copy was found in 2022.

Now, the document is heading to auction. It’s unknown how much it will sell for; the last time a similar document was put up for auction was in 1891, and it sold for $400. This time, however, the bids will start at $1 million — and the document is expected to sell for “much more.”

“This is a unique opportunity to own a cornerstone of our democracy, particularly at this time in our nation’s history,” noted Seth Kaller, a historic document expert who is working with Brunk Auctions on the sale.

So how did the copy of the Constitution get into the filing cabinet?

From New York City To North Carolina

Though it’s unknown exactly how this rare copy of the Constitution ended up sitting forgotten in a filing cabinet, historians have a pretty good idea of how it ended up on Samuel Johnston’s farm.

After the Constitution was drafted in Philadelphia, the document was delivered to the Confederation Congress in New York City on Sept. 18, 1787. Congress debated the document, then agreed to send it to the states for ratification on Sept. 28. About 100 copies were made, some of which — but not all — were signed by Charles Thomson, the Secretary of Congress.

Public DomainA sketch of City Hall — and Trinity Church — in New York City from c. 1798.

The copy found in 2022, complete with Thomson’s signature, made it to North Carolina. There, Johnston presided over the state’s two ratification conventions. On Nov. 21, 1789, North Carolina ratified the document — which apparently remained in Johnston’s possession.

The document’s journey makes it all the more important. According to Kaller, this copy of the Constitution is “rarer and arguably more significant” than one that sold for $43.2 million in 2021. Auctioneer Andrew Brunk seconded his opinion.

“James Madison wrote that the Constitution ‘was nothing more than a draft of a plan, nothing but a dead letter, until life and validity were breathed into it by the voice of the people, speaking through several State Conventions,” Brunk noted. He continued: “This simple looking version is what started breathing life into the Constitution.”

After reading about the rare copy of the U.S. constitution that was discovered in a filing cabinet, go inside the messy history of who wrote the Bill of Rights. Or, look through these surprising — and surprisingly dark — facts about the Founding Fathers.