FREE NEWSLETTER
Go to main Forum page »
Manhattan was purchased from Native Americans, hundreds of years ago, for something like 23 dollars. At first glance , it appears to be the greatest bargain, ever, for the purchasers, while the biggest rip off ,for the sellers.
I have no idea what even the approximate value of Manhattan is currently, other than more than 23 bucks, so I respectfully ask those far more astute at real estate values, compounded returns and the like, to approximately value the entirety of Manhattan, and also to calculate the value of that purchase price, , if it was compounded at 7 percent annually for 400 years, or so.
I’ve gotta go with the Louisiana Purchase. $15 million for what would later become pieces of 15 states, a whole lot of corn, wheat and oil, and New Orleans jazz. (The latter alone was worth the price.)
Manhattan was only $1 per square mile versus $18 per square mile for the deal with Napoleon, but let’s face it, Manhattan has not been a similarly productive purchase.
Still not sure why my email address displays instead of my name.
It isn’t clear the sale ever took place:
https://www.livescience.com/was-manhattan-sold-for-24-dollars.html
Still, if you invest $24 at 7% a year, you get $13.6 trillion after 400 years. The value of all U.S. homes is currently put at some $50 trillion. Perhaps the sellers did better than the story suggests, and these early illegal immigrants got ripped off!
Wow, I just checked with the New York County Recorders Office and there is no official record of the transaction! Who’da ever thunk that?
Thank you, Jonathon. As usual, you provided me with great answers, and it is much appreciated. I always am a little skeptical about those old tales, so much information is lost throughout the years, etc.