US Constitution sale postponed yesterday morning. It all happened just hours before the auction. The last appearance of the document took place 33 years ago. It also represents exceptionally rare and extraordinarily historic first printing of the United States Constitution.
“The sale of the Official Edition of the US Constitution has been postponed” – The Sotheby’s
This is one of just thirteen copies of the Official Edition of the Constitution surviving from a printing of 500. Their designation is for submission to the Continental Congress. Also, for the use of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. This should have been the first appearance of the final text of the Constitution.
It is also the longest continuing charter of government in the world. “The sale of the Official Edition of the US Constitution met with the delay. Following consultation with the consignor, to provide interested institutional parties with additional time to pursue fundraising efforts for a possible acquisition,” a Sotheby’s spokesperson said.
It is unclear whether the document will auction later or sell privately, at this time. The crypto group ConstitutionDAO2 also noticed the uncertainty with the sale. They are also trying to obtain the US Constitution document. A small crypto group known as ConstitutionDAO gained notoriety around the world after a rare first printing of the US Constitution came for auction at Sotheby’s last year.
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To purchase the document, its members raised more than $40 million. That sum exceeded the $15 million target. But it was not enough to stop Ken Griffin from buying it for $43 million. Griffin is a conservative benefactor, and the creator of the Citadel hedge fund.
“We care about this democratizing tech” – Crypto Developer Matt Wyatt
ConstitutionDAO 2 is the name of a new cryptocurrency fundraising organization. They formed after hearing another rare printing of the US Constitution will sell at an auction. Even though the cryptocurrency market is not what it was last year, people like Matt Wyatt, one of the developers of ConstitutionDAO 2, believe the crypto community needed to attend this auction.
“We wanted to show that we still care about this democratizing tech and to show how far we’ve come”, said Wyatt. He also said the community wishes to demonstrate to others their commitment and seriousness.
When the DAO was soliciting money in the past, they ran into two significant problems. The first was that competing buyers had an awareness of the amount raised by the group. This is because they can find all the information on the blockchain. The second problem is the distribution of the funds. To get their cryptocurrency transferred back to them, customers who desired refunds had to spend outrageous sums of money.
However, with the sale postponed, it appears unlikely that the DAO will obtain the copy of the US Constitution, being offered by Sotheby’s. However, a rare documents expert and dealer, Seth Kaller located another rare Constitution that the DAO might decide to purchase.
