Overview
- The Exeter broadside was won in Goldin Auctions’ USA 250 sale with a $2.9 million hammer bid and a 22% buyer’s premium that raised the total to about $3.64 million after 23 bids.
- George E. Norcross III placed the winning bid on behalf of the Norcross family, who said they will place the broadside under conservation and make it publicly accessible.
- The sheet was printed in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1776 by Robert Luist Fowle and is counted among roughly 11 known surviving Exeter broadsides, giving it extreme scarcity in the market.
- The broadside carries a documented provenance through collectors Thomas W. Streeter, Philip David Sang and Goodspeed’s Book Shop and was treated by Washington Conservation Studio before the sale.
- The Wednesday sale highlights how the U.S. semiquincentennial and tight supply of early Declaration printings are pushing prices higher and prompting wealthy private collectors to partner with museums and historic sites for public display.