Founding Era Documents
1776 Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence
One of fewer than 30 surviving Dunlap broadsides (the first printing of the Declaration), this sale established the gold standard for historical American documents.
- Sale price
- $8.14M
- USD · hammer + buyer's premium
- Sale date
- June 29, 2000
- Venue
- Sotheby's
- Authentication
- Sotheby's specialist authentication, comparison to other Dunlap broadsides.
Provenance
Found in 1989 behind a $4 painting at a Pennsylvania flea market.
Condition
Excellent; minor foxing.
Editorial note
One of fewer than 30 surviving Dunlap broadsides (the first printing of the Declaration), this sale established the gold standard for historical American documents.
Sources cited
Sotheby's New York June 2000
auction house
New York Times: 'Declaration broadside sells for $8.14M'
trade press
Reported figures reflect publicly-cited hammer + buyer's premium as of source date. May differ slightly from auction-house internal records. Educational reference, not appraisal.
Going further
Have a political & historical item you want to research the same way?
Open the Authentication Readiness Checklist to see if your item is ready for grading and submission — or the Selling Route Finder to map out the path from authentication to a sale.