A rare copy of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms with Pierre Elliott Trudeau's signature is now for sale on eBay, but one museum expert doubts it'll fetch much despite its historical importance.

Montreal publisher Robert Davies, who knew Trudeau from their days together at the political journal Cité Libre has listed the item on the auction site with a starting bid of $5,000 US. The auction ends Tuesday.

"It's of historical importance simply because it's the Constitution signed by the prime minister that brought it to Canada," Davies said in an interview.

The prime minister signed a copy of the Charter "pour Robert Davies," with his signature as a special favour after Davies published Trudeau's anti-Charlottetown accord speech in a book in 1992, the publisher said.

The signing took place in December 1992 during a gathering on the second floor of the Eggroll House restaurant where Davies and Trudeau met with other colleagues for meetings of Cité Libre, the Quebec political journal that Trudeau co-founded as an opposition voice to the government of Maurice Duplessis.

Davies said he forgot that he had the document until he and his family began sorting through various possessions about a month ago as they prepared to sell their house.

So far, no one has placed a bid on the eBay item. But Davies has received 56 e-mails, one of which said he was asking far too little for it and another criticizing him for putting a monetary value on a piece of history.

Davies said he has approached several lawyers who are Trudeau admirers about a private sale, but they have said it's too costly for them. If Davies doesn't get a price to his liking on eBay, he will pursue a private sale with a museum or foundation.

Despite its historical importance, Xavier Gélinas, the Museum of Civilization's curator of Canadian Political History, said he doesn't expect the signed copy of the Charter will fetch much on eBay because Canadians don't view that type of memorabilia with the same interest as do people in other countries, such as in the U.S.

He also said it may be one of a limited number of signed copies of the Charter, but Trudeau's signature appears everywhere.

"It was part of the function of being important," he said.

Still, the museum would be interested in acquiring the document, particularly since it's "part of our history," Gélinas said. It already has a collection of Trudeau memorabilia, including busts of the leader, a board game and one of his ties.

"The Constitution defines and regulates the country," Gélinas said. "To have the Charter signed by its main architect is definitely something to treasure."

There are only two signed originals of the 1982 proclamation, which are housed at the Library and National Archives in Ottawa, according to senior archivist Jay Gilbert. Both are stained, one by rain and the other by red ink. Archives knows that a bunch of copies were made at the time, but it has no idea how many were autographed by Trudeau.

Davies doesn't plan to give the document to a museum, but said, "if somebody wants to buy and donate it, that'd be wonderful."