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Rare copy of US Constitution found inside old filing cabinet to hit auction block

An original printed archetype of the United States Constitution, signed by Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson, was found at a North Carolina plantation.

The revolutionary document was discovered in 2022 at Hayes Farm, in Edenton.

It will be auctioned off in Asheville, North Carolina, by Brunk Auctions.

An original copy of the United States Constitution, signed by Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson, that was discovered in North Carolina will soon be auctioned off. (Brunk Auctions)

The document is one of only eight known surviving signed ratification copies and the only known copy in private hands.

The rare document was found inside an old filing cabinet at Hayes Farm, in Edenton, North Carolina. (Brunk Auctions)

The bidding will start at $1 million but is expected to sell for much more. 

The last and only other recorded sale of a similar document was in 1891, according to Brunk Auctions.

The rare document will be sold at Brunk Auctions on Sept. 28 to align with the 237th anniversary of the day Congress passed the ratification resolution.

The rare document will go under the hammer on Sept. 28 in Asheville, North Carolina. (Brunk Auctions)

It will be on display on Friday, Sept. 13, from 1:00 – 4:30 PM at Federal Hall National Memorial at 26 Wall Street in New York, New York.