Prices realized… 18th century…

September 13, 2010 by  
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We continue with our series on “Prices Realized”.  Below are a examples of actual prices paid for a few scattered issues from the 18th century.  While not the highest valued from the period, they certainly are “premium” issues.  Our hope is to provide a more-comprehensive listing in the not-too-distant future.  In the meantime, for what it is worth…

The Constitution of the United States… CONNECTICUT COURANT, Hartford, Oct. 1, 1787 ($17,500, 2007)

The Boston Massacre…  THE ESSEX GAZETTE, Salem, Massachusetts, March 20, 1770 ($9,250, 2006)

America proclaims independence…  THE AMERICAN GAZETTE OR, THE CONSTITUTIONAL JOURNAL, Salem, Massachusetts, July 23, 1776 ($9,750, 2007)

The premiere (British) issue of the war…  The Declaration of Independence…  THE LONDON CHRONICLE, August 17, 1776 ($9,750, 2009)

The following is a link to our previous post in this series:

Prices realized… 16th & 17th centuries…

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Comments

2 Responses to “Prices realized… 18th century…”

  1. Charles Signer on September 14th, 2010 11:51 pm

    Thanks again for putting these papers on line.

    The London Chronical was not the earliest printing of the Declaration of Independence, since it was printed in most of the colonies weeks before. It is significant, however, because it was probably the first printing of the declaration abroad, and the first time the name United States of America was seen abroad. The main purpose of the declaration was to proclaim independence to the mother country, so its appearance in the London Chronical helped satisfy a major objective of the Continental Congress. Getting it into a London paper by sailing ship in only six weeks was the 18th century version of a flash report. It did appear in some British magazines the same month and in a paper in Scotland. I understand it was not carried by the London Gazette, presumably because that was a royal court sponsored paper.

    The global population of 1776 printings of the declaration of any kind can’t be more than a few hundred. It looks better in the newspaper since it is all on one page. Given the importance of the issue, the price paid seems very reasonable.

  2. GuyHeilenman on September 15th, 2010 7:07 am

    You are very welcome Charles. We’ll continue to add to these postings over time. Your insights are appreciated.

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