Harvard Law paid $27 for a copy of Magna Carta. It's an original
94 comments
·May 15, 2025highfrequency
The magic of compound interest: buying an original Magna Carta for $27 and selling it for $21 million 80 years later is equivalent to achieving 18.5% compound interest. Roughly the same rate and duration as Warren Buffett's investing career, with a smaller starting value.
syncsynchalt
Unfortunately gains are only real if they're realized — and Harvard will never sell their copy.
mmooss
They could use it as collateral for debt.
ChrisArchitect
Magna Carta, approximately 1300. Manuscript. HLS MS 172, Harvard Law School Library https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:49364859$1i
Aurornis
[dead]
davikr
$450 when corrected for inflation.
tim333
In 1945 they had the gold standard at $35/oz so $27.50 would have been 0.7857 oz of gold currently worth $2540.
voxic11
In 1945 US citizens were banned from owning gold so the exchange rate was not really tethered to the common value of the dollar.
standeven
Is this a reasonable metric though? No one was buying books in 1945 with gold.
jonhohle
Gold is considered to have relatively consistent value over time.
Median home price in 1940 Boston area was $3,600 or 180oz gold. Today the median home price is 215oz of gold in the same area (or $670,000). In terms of gold, house prices are up 20%. In terms of dollars, 18000%.
A new car still costs around 13oz of gold.
Real inflation of fiat is easy to obscure for political reasons. That’s much harder to do with the market value of gold.
killingtime74
It's a better metric than the estimate of the dollar inflation. Gold standard was in use until 1971
koolba
If I were selling books in Europe in 1945, I’d much prefer gold to Reichsmarks.
AtlasBarfed
desilvering of coins was in the 1965 coin act.
So if they paid in dimes/quarters/ half dollars /dollars, they were paying in silver
hilsdev
All cash was convertible to gold at a fixed rate, so more or less they were
jltsiren
In 1945, US GDP per capita was almost $1600. Using your conversion factors, that would be almost $150k today. The actual number is something like $85k. I don't think Americans are that much poorer today than they were 80 years ago.
hilsdev
You’re starting to get into the theories of how they hide true inflation
andrei_says_
How is GDP per capita a useful measure in the presence of almost-trillionaires?
Depending on which city they sleep in, Bezos or Musk make all local citizens multimillionaires. Per capita. Statistically.
ajross
Gold is volatile. Two years ago it would have been half that.
willmeyers
When I visited London a few years ago I went to the British Library and stumbled into their collection (and it was incredibly impressive). I had no idea they had two original Magna Cartas. If you have a chance to see the document at Harvard, you should! It's really something.
inopinatus
Fun fact, there's an inconsistent comma that changes the meaning of clause 29.
metabeard
This comment is the first result when searching "inconsistent comma clause 29 magna carta" on Google. Can you link to a source?
heelix
Saw some of the examples on holiday last month when we were in Salisbury. It was really neat to be that close to one of the ones sent out. Before that time, I'd never actually read the Magna Carta, which really was an interesting read.
anthk
Magna Carta reminds me of the "Seven parts" from Alphonse X of Castille, nearly in the same era.
Also, for its day, it was kinda open-minded and progressive, and Alphonse X was a damn nerd as he ordered to compose a book of games like chess and more tabletop games like Nine Men Morris (Libro de los juegos/The Book of Games).
alephnerd
If you ever have the chance, you absolutely should visit the libraries and museums on campus. It's a treat.
I especially loved walking around Widener Library and marveling at the murals and that original Guteberg Bible
burnt-resistor
If you're willing to brave the American customs gulag, Stanford's free Cantor museum has very historically and artistically significant bits. No ID needed there, of all places.
alephnerd
> Cantor museum has very historically and artistically significant bits
Amen to that. Love Stanford. Cal has a ton of great stuff too.
> the American customs gulag
What does that mean? I've been to Cantor multiple times and nothing seemed out of the ordinary security wise.
rswail
I think the poster meant for international travellers to get through the border.
soperj
I tried going in, but couldn't without a student id.
qingcharles
Can a student take you in as a +1?
alephnerd
Ah yea, security has gotten much tougher now. There are a couple open-access museums though like the Art Museum, the Near East Museum, the Scientific Instruments one in the Science Building, and a couple others.
All in all, loved the museums and history, but detested Harvard. I would have been a better fit at a more middle class college like Cal, Stanford, or MIT.
PaulHoule
Reminds me of that time I found a book at my Uni library that was in the rare books collection that I could only read in the reading room and then saw there were many copies on AMZN for 50 cents + shipping.
tomjakubowski
When a librarian says a book is rare, they don't mean that the information inside is scarce. Rather, they mean that there are few surviving examples of that particular printing or edition of manufacture.
BizarroLand
For instance, you can get a first edition copy of Trilby (which was basically the 1890's Twilight Saga) for a few hundred bucks or less as long as you're not picky about the condition.
mmooss
Do you think the librarians didn't know what was on Amazon?
paxys
Next you'll wonder why people make such a big deal about the Mona Lisa when you can buy your own version at the Louvre gift shop for $25.
standeven
Was the university exaggerating the value, or did you pick up some valuable books for cheap?
dleary
If a work is older than 200 years and worth reading, then original editions are going to be valuable.
But it will also be out of copyright so the cost of getting a “new” copy is basically just the cost of printing.
PaulHoule
This was a 1970s paperback by someone who attracted attention for his work on spiritual matters and sold a lot of books but didn't leave an organization behind so you can find his books at used bookstores.
https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Secrets-Happiness-Intimat...
Not rare at all but some people might say it has some prurient interest (talks about his sexual misadjustment) so maybe they think it has to be limited access or maybe people will steal it or something. (The same library kept Steal this book in a restricted area of the stacks but let me check it out.)
asciimov
Likely a different edition, or reproduction.
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perihelions
It may be that Harvard students no longer habeant corpus, but they do habent a corpus of "habeas corpus" corpses.
spondylosaurus
I haven't Latin'd in forever, but here's an attempt:
Harvardis alumnis corpus non habent sed quidem corpus de "habeas corpus" habent.
(Let's just say "Harvard" is a third declension noun because why not.)
skissane
> Let's just say "Harvard" is a third declension noun because why not.
Given Harvard maintains the tradition of Latin addresses (the Latin Salutatory), I’m sure they have an official position on what their name is in Latin. Wikipedia cites this article but not sure if it is online: Hammond, Mason (Summer 1987). "Official Terms in Latin and English for Harvard College or University". Harvard Library bulletin. Vol. XXXV, no. 3. Harvard University. pp. 294–310.
I spent a year as a student at the University of Sydney (Australia). I roughly remember how to say in Latin “University of Sydney Library”, because they stamped it on all their old library books (something like “Bibliotheca Universitatis Sidneiensis”)-I expect old books in Harvard’s library may be stamped in Latin too
fsckboy
when it comes to latin, i must decline to decline for you, but there's this:
sigillum academiae harvardianae in nov ang
https://etc.usf.edu/clipart/55900/55996/55996_harvard_seal.h...
spondylosaurus
First declension! Never would've guessed. Also smart to dig up a deal to look for Latin inscriptions :)
dralley
It's not an original so much as an official copy. The copies, dated 1300, were created 85 years after the signing of the original Magna Carta in 1215.
Although I suppose the argument is that if you re-affirm the same text several times, that each one is legitimate.
>First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore.
>He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.
But still, it would be weird to say that a copy of the Constitution produced during the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln and re-affirmed by the govt was "an original" even if it otherwise had pedigree.
hughdbrown
Came here to understand exactly this point. It made no sense to me that a document created in 1215 would have a copy made in 1300 that was referred to as an original.
jvanderbot
"Original copy?"
dvh
"genuine replica"
metalman
whatever, umm, "sanctioned forgery" but exactly how is it a "copy", as the Magna Carta was hand written, with 4 signed copys still in existance today. the item under discussion was created 85 years after the magna carta, and presumably, everyone who was involved with the original, was dead so this thing is just old, but has no direct connection, it's even listed as an "amended version" of the actual original document, which means of course that some ancient controversy and disagreement, is lurking for our perusal and picking sides
jb1991
Amazingly, the woman in one photo is not even using gloves to touch this ancient document.
pimlottc
Modern practice recommends using clean, ungloved hands for documents in most circumstances. Gloves reduce dexterity, making tears more likely.
https://ask.loc.gov/preservation/faq/337286
https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/handling-historic-colle...
https://info.gaylord.com/resources/for-the-glove-of-preserva...
qingcharles
This. But anything glossy I would always switch to gloves, even though they are annoying, because otherwise oils get everywhere.
dmbche
Best practices today are clean hands and no gloves as it lessens chance of tearing paper as you have better dexterity if I recall correctly
syncsynchalt
Not to mention that vellum isn't damaged by skin oils - it's already animal skin and contains its own oils.
thih9
This is the recommended way to handle old books.
> We're often led to believe that wearing gloves is essential when handling precious books. In fact, it poses a serious risk of damaging them.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/our-cause/history-heritage/...
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https://archive.today/DOZw1