How much is a copy of the Declaration of Independence worth?

Answer 1

There are a variety of patriotic organizations that will provide free copies. Sometimes even free pamphlets of the Constitution, too. Other groups will provide a nice facsimile for a modest printing fee, no more than $5, typically.

However, failing that, copies can be made at your local library, typically for about ten cents per page. You can probably fit the Declaration of Independence on a page or two.

See the related link below to print out a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Answer 2

As a unique document with intrinsic importance far beyond the words it contains or the signatures, it would be considered "priceless" - i.e. no price could be set that would equal it's value. The owner of the document - the United States of America would simply never sell it so it could only be sold by a thief. From a literal point of view - the price that could be obtained if someone were to acquire it and offer it for sale would be governed by several factors:

1) the cost of the operation to steal it

2) the risk of mounting such an operation - people add risk into the price they set for something they do

3) the cost of evading capture after the theft long enough to sell the item

4) the cost of locating potential buyers who would be willing to accept such a stolen item and incur the wrath of a superpower - while vetting them to make sure they are not part of a trap and without alerting those looking for the thief - either to bring them to justice to steal it from the thief

5) the cost of avoiding being caught by US authorities after the sale

6) the cost of avoiding being identified by those angered by the theft who would exact vigilante justice

7) the cost of keeping any collaborators silent about the theft

8) the cost of avoiding elimination by the buyer who may want to "tie up loose ends" - face it - if they had the resources to buy the document and an inclination to do so, murder of the thief would probably not be something you would put past them

9) the cost of keeping the payment hidden so that it wasn't taken from the thief after the sale

10) the cost of making sure the thief actually got paid - any buyer would probably be - um - unethical enough to cheat the thief and/or simply steal it from them without paying

11) the cost of hiding the transfer of enormous wealth from the buyer to the seller - a few billion or trillion dollars worth of money, goods, land, bonds, etc. would certainly be tough to do discretely

All in all, it is doubtful anyone could afford to pay the costs of acquiring THE Declaration of Independence. My own personal estimate would be something in the range of 100 billion to 1 trillion $US - assuming anyone would risk it. Even if a sale were possible, I can't imagine even a consortium of ultra-wealthy people being able to buy it without the world knowing it - which means they wouldn't even try. I think it would be about as feasible as stealing the Statue of Liberty and selling it.