Ken Griffin's Second Constitution Copy Debuts at South Street Seaport Museum
Billionaire Ken Griffin is showcasing his second privately owned first printing of the U.S. Constitution at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City. The exhibition, "The Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation," commemorates the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday. Only 14 of the original 500 copies printed during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 remain, and Griffin possesses two. His first copy, which he bought for $43.2 million in 2021, is on loan to the National Constitution Center until 2026. The second, the Adrian Van Sinderen copy, was obtained through a 2022 auction.
Key facts
- Ken Griffin owns two of the 14 surviving first printings of the U.S. Constitution.
- The Adrian Van Sinderen copy is now on display at South Street Seaport Museum.
- Griffin paid $43.2 million for the first copy in 2021, a record for any book or manuscript.
- The first copy is on loan to the National Constitution Center through 2026.
- The second copy was pulled from a 2022 Sotheby's auction with a $30 million estimate.
- The exhibition includes the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Emancipation Proclamation, MLK's speech, and a suffrage poster.
- Griffin bought the Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment for $13.7 million and $4.4 million in December 2024.
- The exhibition marks the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Entities
Institutions
- South Street Seaport Museum
- Sotheby's
- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
- National Constitution Center
- Library of Congress
- National Archives
- ConstitutionDAO
- New York Times
- Artnet News
Locations
- Lower Manhattan
- New York
- Philadelphia
- Arkansas
- Salem
- Massachusetts
- United States