Sotheby’s auction of Magna Carta to fetch $20-30mln

Sotheby’s  announced that it will offer for sale the only remaining copy of the Magna Carta held in a private collection. The royal document revered as the birth certificate of freedom and the most important document ever offered at auction, will be up for sale during the week of December 10 in New York.

This iconic manuscript, dated 1297, is the cornerstone of modern ideas of freedom and democracy. It is the most famous single document in existence. Issued by King Edward I, and sealed by the king, this astonishing survivor is one of fewer than twenty examples of the Magna Carta, and the only one ever likely to be sold.

This medieval vellum manuscript is well-known to millions, having been on view with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. since arriving in America over 22 years ago.

It is one of only two copies of the Magna Carta outside of England (the other belonging to the people of Australia). The document is estimated to sell for $20/30 million with the proceeds benefiting the charitable activities of The Perot Foundation.