There are only 7 copies known to exist, expected to fetch 15-20 million.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sothebys-auction-rare-first-printing-us-constitution-2021-09-17/

Am I the only one who thinks that projected pricing is low?
Just seems like the the US Constitution would be valued at more than x3-4 a T206 Honus Wagner baseball card.

I agree with you, on the basis of what ridiculous prices some art/prestige pieces seem to get nowadays.

Baseball cards and modern art kind of have unofficial but established processes for establishing and escalating prices, however ridiculous they may be. In this case, there's only one copy of the constitution in private possession and its last sale was in 1986, so the estimates may be very low or they may be high.

If you're ever curious about the explosion of modern art prices, there's a great documentary called "The Price of Everything."

*Also, I'd imagine the preservation requirements for the constitution would narrow the buyer field, as opposed to a baseball card that any rich tech nerd can pick up and put in a safe deposit box.

Surely it will go for more than 15-20 million. Warhol's tomato soup can paintings went for that over 25 years ago.

fka ftc said:

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I hope there is a true American left with money to protect this. These days, a rich lib or chi commie will buy it just to burn it.

Are there restrictions on display and ultimate protection? I understand if you buy it its your to do with what you want, but you cannot deny there is a chance someone is looking to make a statement.

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Ah, this isn't dangerous.

Yeah it's one of those deals where you have no idea who will be bid, how many will bid, how high they are willing to go because it's such a unique rare item. It's basically a one of seven, but in reality a one if one, given it's the only one privately held.
I would bet the over though given how assets are appreciating these days. As someone in the article states, I really do hope it goes to an American. Would just feel weird if a foreign bidder won this.

Edit- apologies, at bit too f16

Why is the typeface on the s's look so weird?

BadMoonRisin said:

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Why is the typeface on the s's look so weird?

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I've had this question before and finally had to look it up. It's called a long S and was used during that period of time. From an article I found:

Though it may seem more like an f, the letter is just another variation of the lowercase s. ... The long s can be traced back to Roman times, when the lowercase s typical took an elongated form in cursive writing in Latin

Kaa98 said:

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BadMoonRisin said:

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Why is the typeface on the s's look so weird?

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I've had this question before and finally had to look it up. It's called a long S and was used during that period of time. From an article I found:

Though it may seem more like an f, the letter is just another variation of the lowercase s. ... The long s can be traced back to Roman times, when the lowercase s typical took an elongated form in cursive writing in Latin

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Interesting. Thanks!

The long s is the origin of the integral symbol as well. Leibnitz was writing about a hundred years before and chose it as a shorthand for sum.

Kaa98 said:

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BadMoonRisin said:

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Why is the typeface on the s's look so weird?

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I've had this question before and finally had to look it up. It's called a long S and was used during that period of time. From an article I found:

Though it may seem more like an f, the letter is just another variation of the lowercase s. ... The long s can be traced back to Roman times, when the lowercase s typical took an elongated form in cursive writing in Latin

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You will often see 'y' used in place of 'th' as well. No one was saying 'ye' in the 18th century, but you frequently see it in handwritten documents.

[url=https://grammarpartyblog.com/2011/07/26/ye-olde-mispronunciation-the-long-forgotten-letter-thorn/][/url]

Quote:

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We've all seen those kitschy, old-timey business signs like "Ye Old Curiosity Shop," or "Ye Old Hat Shop," or "Ye Old Beer Stand." Shockingly, this whole time we have been mispronouncing these names. In these cases, ye is not pronounced with a y sound, as we are used to hearing. That ye is actually pronounced the. Yes, that the.

Here's how the story starts. A long, long time ago when English was still Old English, the letter people used to represent the th sound was represented by a letter called "thorn." (The thorn looked like a letter p with the hump part scooted down to the middle.) During these times, communicating with the written letter thorn was no problem, as written communication consisted of using pen and ink. You could write any letter you wanted.

The printing press is what led to this ye confusion and ultimately the demise of thorn. This is because early printing fonts had to be imported from Germany and Italy, where there was no sign for thorn. It was the thinking then that the letter y most closely resembled the thorn, so printers substituted it with a y. And that's why we have those cheesy "Ye Old" shop signs now.

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[url=https://grammarpartyblog.com/2011/07/26/ye-olde-mispronunciation-the-long-forgotten-letter-thorn/][/url]

Not so quick nerd post.
The article mentions how these are more rare than the first printing of the DOI, which is true. There were 200 of those printed, by WW2 only around a dozen were known to exist, now there's 26. The last one up for auction 20 years ago brought over 8 million (Norman Lear has it), So only heaven knows what one would bring now.
But the reason I bring it up, is because it is believed that the copy of the declaration actually agreed to the night of July 4 is what was used in the printing, and is now lost to history. The DOI in the National Archives was the one signed when everyone got back in August,
It is thought that the original, assuming it truly existed, was burned to keep it from the British or destroyed in the printing process. But just imagine if that turned up. There was one quote on it that called it the "holy grail of American freedom". You would have billionaires willing to give up most of their fortune to own that I would bet. Would be crazy.

nortex97 said:

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But is there a map on the back of it which can be revealed with lemon juice and special Ben Franklin glasses?

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Wrong document.

nortex97 said:

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But is there a map on the back of it which can be revealed with lemon juice and special Ben Franklin glasses?

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The Masons could tell you, but then they'd have to kill you.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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nortex97 said:

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But is there a map on the back of it which can be revealed with lemon juice and special Ben Franklin glasses?

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Wrong document.

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I am not letting Ian steal the US Constitution doesn't have the same ring to it

Think he was referencing my follow up post on the DOI.
That movie always made me laugh though. Like someone trained in document conservation would put an acid on it, or the dryer heat, or that Gates would shake it like he did in the tube in the van just to make a point. It's like they wanted to destroy it.

oragator said:

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Think he was referencing my follow up post on the DOI.
That movie always made me laugh though. Like someone trained in document conservation would put an acid on it, or the dryer heat, or that Gates would shake it like he did in the tube in the van just to make a point. It's like they wanted to destroy it.

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I thought it was a great movie though, but, really, Nick Cage. No one can be expected to take his shows seriously. It was as historically accurate as Gone in 60 seconds, probably.

FYI-
This auction is today(630p I think), but there's a block chain crowd funding effort to keep it with the people, whatever that means. They've raised 46 million of you want to chip in.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crypto-bid-buy-us-constitution-183600377.html

41 million before premiums to a as yet unnamed collector, but they ioutlasted the crowdfund. Really hope they are in the US and want it shown publicly.

That is excellent news!

Thats exactly the kind of landing spot I would hope for with such an important document....in a museum for all to see.....and it's kinda cool that you don't have to travel all the way to D.C. to see it