Posted on 07/03/2026 2:09:37 AM PDT by RandFan
A rare surviving copy of the Declaration of Independence has been discovered at The National Archives in Kew, the only known example of its kind outside the US.
The document was uncovered by a volunteer in February while cataloguing the papers of Royal Navy captains from the American Revolutionary War.
It is one of 11 copies printed in Exeter, New Hampshire in July 1776 to spread news of American independence through the colonies before it was seized by British forces.
Volunteer Michael Scurr, recalled feeling butterflies in his stomach after he opened up the paper and realised what it was.
"I called over to my boss and said, 'I think you need to come and have a look at this'," he told BBC News.
Following restoration works, the copy will be displayed in the archives' exhibition on the path to American independence, which opened last month.
Saul Nassé, chief executive of The National Archives, praised the find as "an extraordinary discovery".
He added: "It's a vanishingly rare surviving copy of the Declaration of Independence, found not in America, but here in the UK."
The document was seized by the Royal Navy on Christmas Eve 1776 when the HMS Raisonable captured an American ship, the Dalton, off the coast of Portugal following a seven-hour pursuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
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Have a good holiday.
i wonder if it is a good forgery
define “copy”...
Sesquincentennial.
CC
"Known as a Broadside, it is one of 11 surviving copies printed in Exeter, New Hampshire in July 1776 to spread news of American independence through the colonies"
Thanks...I just got up....so still kinda lazy
Semiquincentennial.
Bicentennial was in 1976.
I was in the Marines then...........
Yes thank you for correcting me :D
It’s rare to see such an anniversary.
Yes thank you for the correction. Not often you see it in any walk of life so notable
I was in Anchorage, AK, while Hubby was stationed at Elmendorf AFB.
Share it with the British people and let them have a good, thorough read. Perhaps it can still inspire them to take their nation back...No Kings after all.
Now that they’ve found it, they will probably throw it in the trash can.
Is it in courier or arial font?
This version stated gay marriage and abortion to be sacred and inalienable rights from God.
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