We always hear stories about people who find rare, priceless items in relative's attics, but this one is certainly a show stopper!

How Many Copies Of The Declaration Of Independence Were Made?

There were only 201 copies of The Declaration of Independence made. Of those, only 48 are known to exist.

One of those copies was recently found by Cathy Marsden, just sitting in her attic in Scotland.

According to TMZ, Marsden was going through a few stacks of papers in her attic. Eventually, she came across a document that was folded in half.

When Marsden unfolded the document and saw what she thought she was seeing, she was floored.

Declaration of Independence Copy Up for Sale
(Photo by Chris Hondros/Newsmakers)
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Marsden works for Lyon & Turnbull auction house, so she immediately took the document to her office to do some research in hopes of confirming what she thought she had found.

She had in fact found a genuine, extremely rare copy of The Declaration of Independence!

On July 1st, 2021 Marsden's copy of The Declaration of Independence hit the auction block at Freeman's Auction House in Philadelphia and sold for a whopping $4.42 million!

The winning bidder has chosen to remain anonymous.

US Independence
(Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)
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The document commanded millions of dollars not only because of its rarity but also because of whom it originally belonged.

From  Lyon & Turnbull -

First presented to Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), the last surviving signer of the original document, and later inscribed by his grandson-in-law John MacTavish (1787-1852), this rare document is the last of the six signers’ copies known to still be in private hands.

 

How amazing is it to have found this, and sold for over $4 million just three days before The 4th of July?

To be honest, I may have had to wait until after The 4th to sell it.

Read more from TMZ and Lyon & Turnbull.

KEEP READING: Here are the most popular baby names in every state

Using March 2019 data from the Social Security Administration, Stacker compiled a list of the most popular names in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., according to their 2018 SSA rankings. The top five boy names and top five girl names are listed for each state, as well as the number of babies born in 2018 with that name. Historically common names like Michael only made the top five in three states, while the less common name Harper ranks in the top five for 22 states.

Curious what names are trending in your home state? Keep reading to see if your name made the top five -- or to find inspiration for naming your baby.

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