A copy of the Declaration of Independence from July 1776 will be on sale this spring.

U.S. History

T here have been copies of the Declaration of Independence for as long as there's been a Declaration of Independence. The handwritten, signed document is currently safe from Nicolas Cage in the National Archives. But the Continental Congress' printer John Dunlap made about 200 broadside copies of the document on July 4, 1776, of which 26 remain. These were posted in public places for soon-to-be Americans to read and celebrate. One of them will be sold at auction in May 2026 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, and it's likely to fetch a high price — another was recently sold for $5.6 million.

In an interview with Philly Voice, Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of the auction house near Philadelphia that will be selling the rare document, described it as being in "tremendous condition" despite the fact that it "may have been posted in a tavern or some kind of hall." More than 400 other historical objects also will be available at the auction, though Goldin has yet to reveal what they'll be. The copy of the declaration will be lot No. 1, however, and is sure to be the most sought-after item.

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By the Numbers

Signatories of the Declaration of Independence

Age of Thomas Lynch Jr. and Edward Rutledge, the two youngest signatories

Did you know?

Nine signatories of the declaration died before independence was won.

The United States didn't win independence simply by declaring it. The Revolutionary War raged for seven years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, and nine signatories died before the Treaty of Paris formally ended the conflict on September 3, 1783 — some in strange ways. The abovementioned Thomas Lynch Jr. drowned in a storm while sailing to the Caribbean, while Button Gwinnett was killed in a duel. John Morton, the first to die, is said to have dictated a final message about signing the document on his deathbed: "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it to have been the most glorious service I ever rendered to my country." Philip Livingston, John Hart, George Ross, Joseph Hewes, George Taylor, and Richard Stockton all died before the end of the Revolutionary War as well. The last surviving signatory was Charles Carroll, who died on November 14, 1832, at the age of 95.