# New copy of Magna Carta found!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 10, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323 "2015-02-10T19:07:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/1 "2015-02-10T19:07:10Z")
This makes constitutional history geeks salivate!
A damaged copy of the 1300 re-issue if Magna Carta has been discovered in an English library!
> **[Magna Carta found in scrapbook may be worth millions | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2015/02/09/europe/magna-carta-kent/)**
>
> Just days after four Magna Cartas were united for the first time in 800 years at the British Library in London, another ancient version of the document has been discovered by chance in a medieval coastal town in England.
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### Author:  [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/2 "2015-02-10T21:49:37Z")
Oh I thought that placemat looked kind of old and dirty . . .
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### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/3 "2015-02-11T02:48:03Z")
Just saw this on Facebook, too. It’s pretty cool. I’d love to run into something like that - even though I wouldn’t recognize it.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/4 "2015-02-11T04:14:04Z")
Pearl of Sandwich.
There’s more out there. It’s like you can’t actually look for it but eventually someone will ‘come across’ it.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/5 "2015-02-11T06:09:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> This makes constitutional history geeks salivate!
>
> A damaged copy of the 1300 re-issue if Magna Carta has been discovered in an English library!
>
> [http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/09/europe/magna-carta-kent/](http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/09/europe/magna-carta-kent/)
Droool… 🙂
(Seriously, thanks for sharing the news.)
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/6 "2015-02-11T10:11:24Z")
I live in Sandwich and it is quite an exciting find for us.
It could be sold for a quick profit but the decision is to keep it and use it as a focal point for tourism. Smart move I think. It is a fairly wealthy little town as it is but a few more tourist pounds are always welcome.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/7 "2015-02-11T14:13:02Z")
I would think your Deli’s are pretty great
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/8 "2015-02-13T10:11:12Z")
I’m just trying to see the logic here. As I understand it, it is a damaged copy of a document issued 80 years earlier?
I can see value, but why is this so special? I am not trying to threadshit, but the UK has many historical documents- I’m trying to fathom why a copy of the original is so sought after.
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### Author:  [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/9 "2015-02-13T17:31:47Z")
It was found paired with another extremely important document, and this pairing makes it unique.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/10 "2015-02-13T21:24:07Z")
Plus, it’s not a copy of the 1215 Magna Carta, but one of the originals issued by Edward III on his accession. So it is an original document, of a subsequent version.
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### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/11 "2015-02-13T23:33:44Z")
Not to mention its from the 13th century, each of the two I’ve seen are beautiful works of art - handmade obviously, and its the foundation for modern English and American law. Its like finding a Gutenberg Bible or a Stradivarius.
Oh, and it isn’t a copy. The Magna Carta was reissued many times during the period. This is a different version than the earlier ones. In each version, no “original” exists, because each one was made by hand.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/12 "2015-02-14T01:25:54Z")
> [@lieu](#):
>
> Pearl of Sandwich.
>
> There’s more out there. It’s like you can’t actually look for it but eventually someone will ‘come across’ it.
One would have to have a highly unusually erotic fixation on constitutional history . . . not saying that I **don’t**. . . I’ll be in my bunk. Emitting the Pearl of Sandwich.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/13 "2015-02-16T03:06:31Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Plus, it’s not a copy of the 1215 Magna Carta, but one of the originals issued by Edward III on his accession. So it is an original document, of a subsequent version.
But the important thing is, it contains Easter eggs which, if deciphered, will lead you to a cache of ancient treasures from the Middle East secreted in a cavern under the Tower of London! 🙂
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### Author:  [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-copy-of-magna-carta-found/712323/14 "2015-02-16T05:36:41Z")
That’s freaking cool.
I did, however, love the headline phrasing: “Magna Carta found in scrapbook may be worth millions”. Conjured up the mental image of it being in a modern, decorated-to-hell-and-back scrapbook. First you’re on the page for Timmy’s first day of school with faux chalkboards and apple stickers; then you flip the page and here’s the Magna Carta against a tapestry-patterned paper, snug in filigreed punched corner pieces and helpful information like the date hand-written in bubbly letters surrounded by vaguely Celtic knotwork-ish borders. 😃