After theU.S. Constitutionwassigned — by most , but not all , of the Constitutional Convention ’s delegates — on September 17 , 1787 , about 500 copies were printed for internal politics use . From that first printing process , only 13 still exist ( that we know of ) .
One of them , asPhillyVoice reports , latterly bring in $ 43.2 million at aSotheby ’s auction sale , making it the most expensive historical document ever sold . The previousrecord - holderwasLeonardo da Vinci’sCodex Leicester , which Bill Gates bought for $ 30.8 million in 1994 .
At the prison term of the sales agreement on November 18 , the emptor stay anonymous . But he ’s since let on himself as Ken Griffin , CEO and laminitis of the hedge fund Citadel .
“ The U.S. Constitution is a sacred document that enshrines the rights of every American and all those who shoot for to be , ” Griffin state in a statement , per Artnet News . “ That is why I intend to ascertain that this copy of our Constitution will be useable for all Americans and visitant to view and apprise in our museums and other public spaces . ”
Its first stop ( and the only one announced so far ) is Bentonville , Arkansas’sCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art , a free institution established in 2011 by Alice Walton , girl of Walmart beginner Sam Walton and the 17thrichest individual in the human beings .
Griffin was n’t without invite contender . A crowdfunding surgical process calling itself ConstitutionDAO carry off to raise $ 47 million in cryptocurrency from 17,437 donors in the day leading up to the auction . The stupendous sum was enough to aid hike up the price of the papers far beyond its original judge time value of $ 15 to $ 20 million . regrettably , asThe Verge reports , the organization set down out of the race once it got to the point where there would n’t be enough leftover monetary resource to “ insure , stock , and transport the written document . ”
“ How much for Citadel ? ” ConstitutionDAOtweetedthe daylight after the vendue .
[ h / tPhillyVoice ]
