Do we not all dream of finding the discovery of the decade, or even better of the century ? A US citizen purchased at a local antique market an old painting for the amount of US$ 4 because he found that aged frame so appealing.

On his return home, he dismantled the painting from the frame and found between the backboard and the painting a folded document. Curious to what he had purchased he showed the document to an expert who must have fallen off his chair in astonishment.

The document measuring 39,5cm by 50cm turned out to be one of the first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America with an estimated value between $800,000 and $1.2 million. The document was printed on July 4, 1776 and is one of the known 24 to exist. Read >>