An original copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence was discovered by a man named Michael Sparks in 2006. Sparks was browsing a Nashville, TN thrift store and came across a rolled-up document with no price tag. A LUCKY thrift shopper has revealed he found a copy of the Declaration of Independence which later sold for almost half a million dollars. Michael Sparks bought the worn and yellowed document from Music City Thrift in Nashville, Tennessee for just $2.48. A Tennessee man was right about the scroll he found in a thrift shop being worth the $2.48 asking price -- it's a copy of the Declaration of Independence. A version of this article appears in print on , Section C, Page 11 of the National edition with the headline: Declaration of Independence Found in a $4 Picture Frame. A rare 1823 copy of the Declaration of Independence was sold at auction for $477,650 by a man who found it last year in a Nashville thrift store for $2.48. Upon opening the envelope, he found a copy of the Declaration of Independence, but not just any copy. He did not realize it at the time, but what he had in his possession was one of the 25 original copies printed in July of 1776. A rare, 184-year-old copy of the Declaration of Independence found by a bargain hunter at a Nashville thrift shop is being valued by experts at about 100,000 times the $2.48 purchase price. Talk about a national treasure! Long before Nicholas Cage and his friends stole the Declaration of Independence in their hit film, a man lived out a tale of finding treasure in real life. In 1991, a man shopping at a thrift sale purchased an “ugly painting” for $4 because he liked the frame. Behind the painting, he discovered a folded-up copy of the first printing of the Declaration of A man who paid $4 for an old painting found that it concealed a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was printed on July 4, 1776, and may be worth $1 million, an auction house disclosed The old adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” also doubles as the ultimate collector’s fantasy. Every garage sale, thrift store or dollar bin is an opportunity to find a diamond in the rough. Usually that dream is applied to a rare sports card or work of art but the most incredible, real-life example occurred for a type of item few people even know could be collected A man who bought a $4 painting for the frame made $2.4 million after realizing that an original copy of the Declaration of Independence was hidden inside. A thrift store shopper paid $4 for an "ugly painting" because he liked the frame in 1991 at a Pennsylvania flea market. He then discovered a folded-up copy of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence behind the painting. A collector bagged the find of the century when he picked up the Declaration of Independence at a flea market for less than five bucks. Man buys $4 painting for the frame — finds lost copy of the 'Declaration of Independence' hidden inside Collector uncovers historical treasure behind antique painting bought for $4—sells for $2.2 million A collector believes he has a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence made through a 19th-century printing process that damaged the original. The old adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” also doubles as the ultimate collector’s fantasy. Every garage sale, thrift store or dollar bin is an opportunity to find a diamond in the rough. TIL a man found a copy of the declaration of independence in an old picture frame he bought for $4 at a yard sale. It turned out to be a first print from the 4th July 1776. Nashville Thrift Store Houses An Original Copy Of The Declaration Of Independence Museum of the American Revolution Another rare 1823 copy of the Declaration of Independence on display at the Museum of the American Revolution. Did a Bargain Hunter Find Original Print of Declaration of Independence? A lucky bargain hunter got more than he bargained for when he purchased an old painting. In 1989, when a lucky Philadelphia man found an original 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence hidden in an old painting that he’d bought at a flea market, he truly stumbled across a fortune. It sold at Sotheby’s two years later for $2.4 million dollars. In a similar story from 2006, an 1823 copy of the Declaration was purchased at a thrift store in Tennessee for $2.50 and sold at
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