“CONSOLS” (purpetual bonds) were issued by the British government after the Napoleonic Wars, in an attempt to stabilze the finaces of the government. They are a special class of bonds, one in which the principle amount is NEVER repaid-they just pay out interest indefiniately. Are these bonds still extant? And, what is the advantage in issuing purpetual bonds? have any modern governments done this?
Yes, perpetual bonds still exist.
One perpetual bond issued by the state-owned Bank of India
As for consols, I have found a couple of references to their still existing, but I haven’t found any sort of official site related to them.
The US issued one series of perpetual bonds in connection with financing the Panama Canal. However the bonds were callable and were called and retired some time ago.
From the wiki entry: