Tag Sale Treasure: Declaration of Independence

Just this week, news broke that a copy of the Declaration of Independence was available for purchase through the New York Times Store for $1.6 million.

But, with quite a bit of luck, copies have been purchased for much less.

Two early copies of the Declaration have been found and sold in the past 20 years for an enormous amount of money. One was found in a flea market in Pennsylvania; the other was found in a thrift store in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration, of course, on July 4, 1776, but it was not signed immediately. The Congress contracted with a well-known Philadelphia printer named John Dunlap to print 500 copies of the document as a broadside. The printed copies were then distributed via couriers to prominent people and organizations in the 13 colonies. Many of these copies were read aloud in public places; others were probably posted for the public to read. As possessing a copy or printing one might be considered an act of sedition, many of the original Dunlap copies were probably hidden or destroyed.

One hidden copy surfaced at a flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania in 1989 quite by accident. A flea market customer—a financial analyst from Philadelphia-- spied a torn landscape painting in a frame that he liked. Thinking that the frame would be suitable for something else he had in mind, the man purchased the painting for $4. He then took it home and cut out the original painting. Out fell one of the Dunlap printings of the Declaration! In June 1991, that copy sold for $2.42 million to Donald Scheer of Atlanta, GA.  Nine years later, Scheer re-sold the Dunlap copy for $8.1 million to TV producer, Norman Lear!

A non-Dunlap copy from 1823—one of 200 “official” copies commissioned by John Quincy Adams-- sold in March 2007 for $477,650. Michael Sparks purchased this particular copy from a Knoxville, Tennessee thrift store for $2.49! The man who donated it to the thrift store had previously had it hanging in his workshop. Claiming to be under pressure from his new wife to clean up his shop, Stan Caffy—a pipe fitter-- donated it to the store in Nashville, where it was later purchased. The later printing of the Declaration of Independence has good value, but clearly the non-signed Dunlap version carries the best value.

John Dunlap was born in Ireland in 1747. Apprenticed to his uncle, William Dunlap, a well-established printer in Philly, John moved to Philadelphia at age 10. In 1766, John took over his uncle's business. He was friendly with Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration. Contracted by the Continental Congress to print the Declaration, Dunlap did not put his printer's seal upon the copies, probably for security reasons. There are 25 known copies of the Dunlap document known to exist. Only 4 of the 25 known copies are in private hands; institutions hold the other 21. Are there other copies of the Dunlap printings out there? How about the 1823 printing? Probably, so keep a sharp eye out when you go tagging and when you visit flea markets and thrift stores! Finding one could be your own declaration of financial independence.

Notes and Sources:

1. cnn.com

2. snopes.com

3. Penn State Univ. online library