George Washington's constitution copy sold for $10 mn

Washington, June 23 (IANS) A 223-year-old personal copy of the US Constitution belonging to America's founding president George Washington has sold for around $10 million, Christie's auction house has said.

The leather-bound book, with the first president's own annotations, was printed in 1789, his first year in office, BBC reported.

It had an estimated price of $2 million-$3 million, but bidding boosted the price of the book.

Experts said Washington's notes were what make the book so valuable.

The book, stamped with the Washington family crest, also contains the first acts of Congress, which included legislation to establish state, judiciary, defence and treasury departments of the government.

The new owner is the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, which paid a final price of $9.83 million.

The private non-profit group owns and maintains Mount Vernon, Washington's historic Virginia estate.

The book will now become part of a new presidential library due to open in 2013.

The book was bound especially for the president by New York bookbinder Thomas Allen, who also created similar copies for first secretary of state Thomas Jefferson and attorney general John Jay.