Declaration of Independence, 1777

This is a certified copy of the Declaration of Independence, signed and attested by Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane, Ministers Plenipotentiary. It is the document originally enclosed in the joint letter sent by Franklin and Deane to Frederick the Great of Prussia. The original, engrossed copy of the Declaration is, of course, on display in the National Archives, but the copy here described is considered to be the only certified copy known to have survived to the present time.