For 80 years, Harvard Law School believed the Magna Carta it bought for $27.50 was a reproduction. Now, British researchers think the document is a genuine version—one of a few still in existence.

She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harvard bought a Magna Carta copy for $27. It turned out to be an original from 1300.

A "copy" of the Magna Carta, the medieval English document that has formed the basis of constitutions around the world, owned by Harvard Law School is actually an exceedingly rare original, British ...

“The text had to be correct.” Vincent and Carpenter’s next puzzle was to work out how Harvard came to possess an original Magna Carta. They traced its provenance, beginning with the $27.50 ...

A “copy” of Magna Carta bought decades ago by Harvard Law School for just $27.50 is now understood to be an extremely rare original from 1300, according to new research. British historians ...

In 1946, Harvard purchased what they believed to be a cheap copy of Magna Carta for $25.70. It turned out to be a screaming ... text of HLS MS 172 with other original copies of Magna Carta from ...

A "copy" of Magna Carta bought for under $30 ... and I know what that is. It's an original Magna Carta.'" Carpenter and Vincent of course wanted a closer look at the document, using images taken ...

The school had never questioned the document’s origins because it was told it was a copy when it purchased it, Zittrain said. The last time a Magna Carta was publicly sold was in 2007.

Harvard Law School bought a 1327 copy of the Magna Carta from legal ... This looks so much like a 1300 original,'" Carpenter said in the video. Carpenter said he reached out to Nicholas Vincent ...

In the 40s, Harvard purchased a faded, stained copy of the Magna Carta for $US27. But in a startling discovery, two British researchers have confirmed it is a rare ...

A “copy” of the Magna Carta, the medieval English document that has formed the basis of constitutions around the world, owned by Harvard Law School is actually an exceedingly rare original ...