Sotheby’s is about to stage its own mini-revolution. On January 24, a rare July 1776 Essex broadside of the Declaration of Independence will go under the hammer, with an estimate of $2 to $4 million. Just four years ago, it sold at Christie’s for a mere $930,000—proof that history appreciates in value, especially when it’s on fragile 18th-century paper.

This particular Declaration is no ordinary antique. Only 13 broadsides like it exist; 10 are tucked safely in the archives of institutions like the Library of Congress and the American Antiquarian Society. This one, dubbed the Goodspeed’s-Sang-Streeter copy, carries the whiff of rebellion and irony: it was printed by Robert Luist Fowle, a loyalist to the British Crown. Imagine a Tory, sweating over his press as the colonies inked their freedom!

Fowle’s version stands out, not just for its bold proclamation of liberty, but for its quirks—misspelled names, a two-column layout, and a typographical hiccup that left an extra “p” in Charles Thomson’s name. Even revolutionaries, it seems, weren’t immune to the tyranny of deadlines.

Sotheby’s head of books and manuscripts, Kalika Sands, calls it “a cornerstone of American history.” And why not? This piece of paper, teeming with Jefferson’s fiery prose, is as much a work of art as it is a historical document. It’s a relic of a moment when words changed the world—when ideas leapt from page to cannon, creating a country born of ink and ambition.

The auction house is banking on collectors who recognize that this is more than memorabilia; it’s the DNA of a nation. Just ask Ken Griffin, who spent $43.2 million on a U.S. Constitution in 2021, or the mystery buyers fueling a boom in the market for Americana.

Will this Essex broadside fetch its high estimate or even surpass it? The stakes are as dramatic as the parchment itself. After all, how do you price freedom? Sotheby’s seems to think $4 million is a good starting point.

History may not repeat itself, but in the right hands, it certainly sells.