Hidden Treasure: How a Forgotten Declaration Flyer Turned Into Millions

It was a simple $4 purchase at a Pennsylvania flea market in 1989. A man browsing through odds and ends came across a faded country scene in an old frame. The frame looked promising, so he bought it. He had no idea he was about to uncover one of the rarest pieces of American history.

Tucked behind the artwork, folded into the size of a business envelope, was what would later be confirmed as a first printing of the Declaration of Independence, one of the few surviving Dunlap Broadsides. Printed the night of July 4, 1776, this fragile sheet of paper was part of the very first batch of America’s founding document to be shared across the colonies.

The story behind these rare broadsides is as remarkable as the flea market discovery. On the night the Declaration was approved, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap was asked to produce an urgent run of the newly written Declaration. Some historians say he printed around 200 copies. Others believe the number may have reached 500. The truth is, no one is entirely sure. But we do know the job had to be done fast and done well.

This broadside, a large single-sheet announcement, wasn’t meant to be a keepsake. It was a call to action, a clear break from British rule. The news it carried would have been considered treason by the British Crown. Time was of the essence. Dunlap set the type and worked through the night, and by the next day, the fresh ink was still drying as copies were rushed out across the 13 colonies.

Most of those original flyers have been lost to time. Some were posted on tavern doors and courthouse walls. Others were handed out and eventually discarded. A few were carefully preserved by colonial families and passed down through generations. Today, only 26 copies of the Dunlap Broadside are known to still exist.

The copy found behind the painting at the flea market turned out to be not just real, but in remarkably good condition. According to Selby Kiffer, a rare document expert at Sotheby’s, the broadside still bore signs of haste. The first line of the Declaration appeared in reverse on the bottom margin of the page, a ghost print left from the ink being wet when the sheet was folded for delivery.

The man who made the discovery, Donald J. Scheer, had originally bought the painting for the frame. It turned out the frame was worthless. But the folded paper behind it would go on to sell at auction for $2.42 million in 1991.

Later, a group led by television producer Norman Lear purchased the document for $8.14 million, a record-setting price for an American historical document at the time. The group then began touring the Declaration across the country, sharing the treasure with schools, museums, and communities.

Stories like this are rare, but they remind us how history can hide in plain sight, tucked behind dusty paintings, in old trunks, or forgotten books. For historians and collectors, the Dunlap Broadside remains one of the most exciting finds ever made. It’s not just a piece of paper. It’s a snapshot of a country declaring its freedom to the world.

And for one lucky flea market shopper, it turned out to be the find of a lifetime.