July 09, 2026
Provided Image/Goldin Auctions
The Norcross family placed the winning bid on Goldin auctions' broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence that was printed in Exeter, New Hampshire, in July 1776.
New Jersey insurance executive George E. Norcross III has placed the winning bid on behalf of his family for a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence that was put up for auction this year to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary.
The founding document, printed on broadside in 1776, was won with a $2.9 million bid on Wednesday night. Camden County auction house Goldin assesses a 22% "buyer's premium" that brings the total price for the relic to $3.64 million. There were 23 total bids, starting at $1 million on June 2. A volley of bids picked up steam Wednesday, beginning at $1.5 million around 8 a.m. and nearly doubling by the time the Norcross family's final bid came in around 10:30 p.m.
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The document is among the first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence and is believed to be one of only 11 similar copies in existence, including one discovered in England earlier this year. The broadside was produced in Exeter, New Hampshire, where local printer Robert Luist Fowle made the copies to meet public demand for evidence of the nation's independence.
"The news actually had to get out by broadsides like this and newspaper printings," said Seth Kaller, an expert in documents of liberty and builder of museum collections. "Today, our news is transmitted on the computer and phone — you know, all that. But back then, the only technology for spreading news like this was newspapers and broadsides. This is how people found out that we were declared independent."
Only two other Exeter broadsides have been sold at auction. One fetched just under $5.7 million at Christie's auction house in January and another went for $2.4 million in January 2025.
"This one is in tremendous condition, (considering) it may have been posted in a tavern or some kind of hall," Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, said of the copy acquired by the Norcross family. "The fact that any of them survived is remarkable."
The Exeter broadside of the Declaration of Independence sold by Goldin Auctions is one of only 11 known surviving copies.
This is the second time the Norcross family has purchased a preserved copy of the nation's founding document. They paid a record $4 million at a Freeman's auction sale in 2021 for a rare engraving of the Declaration of Independence that was ordered on parchment by John Quincy Adams in 1823, two years before he was elected president. That copper plate engraving was one of 201 vellum copies produced by printer William J. Stone and one of only about 50 known to survive. It was found in the attic of the Scottish home owned by descendants of Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from Maryland. Carroll was the only Catholic signer.
Kaller said most people think of the Declaration of Independence as the engrossed, handwritten and signed document held at the National Archives. That document was ordered by the Continental Congress on July 19, 1776, after all states had voted on independence.
"It was just for posterity," Kaller said. "It actually has no official purpose. The broadsides really were the official documents spreading the news.
When the original document was written and sent out to be printed, it included only the signatures of John Hancock and Charles Thompson, secretary of the Continental Congress, at the bottom as shown on the broadsides.
"The original that went to the printer probably doesn't exist anymore," Kaller said. "It got cut up immediately because four or five compositors had to set it in type at the same time so they could get it done. It's likely that it never got put back together, although you never know."
Norcross is the chair of insurance firm Conner Strong & Buckelew and Cooper University Health Care. He's the father of PhillyVoice founder and chairwoman Lexie Norcross, who first steered her dad's attention to the rare Carroll document they bought five years ago. The Norcross family acquired that engraving to honor longtime family friend and lawyer Martin McKernan Jr., who saw the document with the Norcross family while living with Lexie, his goddaughter, shortly before his death.
George E. Norcross III, Alex Norcross, Lexie Norcross and the late Martin McKernan Jr. celebrate the purchase of an 1823 copperplate engraving of the Declaration of Independence that was acquired at auction in 2021. McKernan was a prominent attorney in Camden County.
The copperplate engraving was placed on public view at the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park and at Cooper Hospital before going to the Museum of the American Revolution, where it remains on display.
The Norcross family already has plans underway to make the newly acquired Exeter broadside publicly accessible.
"As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we are deeply honored to become the stewards of such an extraordinary piece of our nation’s history," Lexie and Alex Norcross, George's son, said in a statement Thursday. "The Declaration of Independence is far more than a historic document, it is a pivotal manuscript that belongs to the story of every American and a symbol of the ideals that continue to unite and inspire generations. We recognize the responsibility that comes with preserving this remarkable piece of our nation’s heritage and are committed to protecting it with the care and respect it deserves so future generations can continue to appreciate its enduring significance."
The Exeter broadside was held by the lineage of esteemed collectors Thomas W. Streeter, Philip David Sang and Goodspeed's Book Shop in Boston before going up for auction this year. It was treated by Washington Conservation Studio last year and presented in a 32-by-36-inch framed display. Every word of the document penned by Thomas Jefferson remains legible.
The Norcross family's collection of historical documents includes autographed letters, documents and a signed book that was originally assembled by Thomas R. Proctor in 1905. The collection contains documents signed by all 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. It was owned by Sang and later by collector Richard Newell. It's one of only 40 complete sets of the documents. The family also owns one of John Hancock’s signed letters sending Declaration broadsides out to the states.
The Exeter broadside was one of more than 400 historical items Goldin auctioned as part of its USA 250 collection in recent months. Among the other items was a signed and framed letter from George Washington seeking help from Colonel Daniel Hitchcock to assemble the Continental Army in November 1776. That document sold Wednesday for $109,800. Another handwritten letter by Benjamin Franklin, who articulated the basis of the American Revolution in February 1876, sold Wednesday for $97,600.
"I feel this is the most important item that we have sold in the 14-year history of Goldin Auctions," Goldin said Thursday, referring to the document acquired by Norcross. "I am honored to have handled it."
