top of page

What's on Sale? The supreme law of the United States of America


Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images


An exceptionally rare first-edition printed copy of the US Constitution is going on sale in New York, with Sotheby's auction house expecting bids up to $20 million.

A group of investors is pooling millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in an attempt to purchase a rare, first-edition copy of the US Constitution being auctioned off at Sotheby’s this week.


The organization, ConstitutionDAO, is seeking to purchase one of the 13 surviving official copies of the Constitution. Sotheby’s, the auction house holding the sale, pegs the sale at between $15 million and $20 million.


The auction is scheduled for this Thursday


It is one of just 11 surviving copies -- and the last in private hands -- from the first printing of the document's final text, produced for delegates of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and Continental Congress.


Sotheby's is auctioning off an extremely rare and historic, first-edition printing of the U.S. Constitution, and crypto investors are pooling millions of dollars worth of ether to buy it.


A DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is a protocol, essentially a set of automated rules that runs in a blockchain environment. In this case, the ConstitutionDAO allows individuals to buy tokens that come with "governance" concerning the fate of the constitutional copy, should the DAO be successful in its bid during Thursday's auction.

The foundational text is valued at $15 million to $20 million. Since launching five days ago, the group has raised 967 ether of 4.3 million


Goldman Collection will offer at least one constitution from every state, Delaware to Alaska. All Proceeds from the sale will go directly to the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation focused on giving civics education to the next generations of this country.


The copy was purchased from Sotheby's by real estate developer S. Howard Goldman in 1988 for $165,000. Dorothy Tapper Goldman, Goldman's widow, is the current owner. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation.

Find out more here:



1 comment
bottom of page