A rare Official Signed Ratification Copy of the United States Constitution, found at the historic Hayes Farm House located in Edenton, N.C., was recently sold at an auction conducted in Asheville, N.C. Hayes, and its renowned library, was built in 1817 by James Johnston, who was known as a collector and curator of historical books, maps, artifacts, and documents. Johnston died in 1865 and his Last Will and Testament left Hayes and its contents to his friend and business associate, Edward Wood. Since that time, generations of the Wood Family have done their best to preserve Hayes, the building and its magnificent library, as well as their connection with America’s history. Poyner Spruill’s Nick Ellis served as legal counsel for the owner of the United States Constitution.
When the United States Constitution was found in 2023, the issue of whether it was an “out-of-custody public record” and therefore, property of North Carolina, had to be addressed. Nick began a painstakingly thorough process of determining the legal provenance of the document and worked closely with the N.C. Department of Archives, as it also had a signed copy. In this process, the State concluded there was no verifiable tie between our client’s copy of the Constitution and “any official State business or enterprise.”
This pronouncement finalized our clients’ ability to auction their copy of the United States Constitution. With a goal of putting the Constitution in the hands of someone who would have the ability to not only preserve this historical document but to share it with the public, it came up for auction on October 17, 2024. And, when the hammer dropped, it sold for $9,000,000. Additionally, a rare copy of the Articles of Confederation, which had to undergo the same out-of-custody public record analysis, sold for $1,000,000.
Our clients will always value their link to Hayes, the library, and their connection to Colonial and early American history. They are excited about this new opportunity for – “We the People of the United States” – to get a close-up look at the United States Constitution, the foundation of our democratic form of government, and where the liberties it and the Bill of Rights created for its citizens were first written.
