# If you were a time traveler, could you safely retrieve the money you deposited in the past? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624 "2011-11-30T23:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/1 "2011-11-30T23:26:54Z")
Bouncing off this thread: > **[If you could go back in time and put money in the bank a hundred years ago,...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=633204)** > > I’m currently reading The Forever War (Sci-Fi novel). The book assumes that leaving money in the bank will beat out inflation if left for hundreds of years. I have seen this assumed before in Sci-Fi and elsewhere, but is it really true? If so, would... Let’s say you have the latest UberChronoShifter 2053 all powered up. You go back to NYC in 1891 and make a modest deposit at The Bank of New York. The Bank of New York (after mergers) is now The Bank of New York Mellon. > **[BNY Mellon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bank_of_New_York_Mellon)** > > The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Financial Corporation in 2007. It is the world's largest custodian bank and securities services company, with $1.8 trillion in assets under management and $44.3 trillion in assets under custody at the end of 2022 fiscal. It is considered a systemi Through its ... You hop back into your UberChronoShifter and come to 2011 and walk up to a branch of The Bank of New York Mellon and provide your account book from 1891. Are you going to have anything remotely resembling a decent chance of actually getting your money, with interest, in hand, or is it likely that the money was turned over to the Government as abandoned property years ago, or that there is no way you can convince the bank that you didn’t find the bank documents in an antiques store and that you are actually the account holder or at least entitled to withdraw it? If you wanted to deposit money in the past and have the greatest chance of practically being able to cash out the money in a physical way (e.g. walk out of the bank (or the modern successor) in modern times physically carrying your cash or a cashier’s check), how could it be done? Feel free to substitute other banks or even other investment avenues as applicable. E.g. you could deposit the money at the Bank of the Ohio Valley in 1860 in Cincinnati and then attempt to withdraw from the modern Fifth Third Bank. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/2 "2011-12-01T00:42:39Z")
“See the name on the original documents? That’s the same as my name. I’m here to claim great-granddad’s legacy. I’m sure he would want me to have it.” ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/3 "2011-12-01T00:44:27Z")
If it were possible to do this, the banks would probably know about it and have policies in place for dealing with time travellers. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/4 "2011-12-01T00:47:22Z")
Banks are fer no-good, low-down City Slickers, Yankees and Carpet-baggers! I’da burried mine under a _rock_ on the hill out behind my house. It’d still be there! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/5 "2011-12-01T01:03:57Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Bouncing off this thread: > > [If you could go back in time and put money in the bank a hundred years ago, would you make money? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=633204) > > Let’s say you have the latest UberChronoShifter 2053 all powered up. You go back to NYC in 1891 and make a modest deposit at The Bank of New York. > > The Bank of New York (after mergers) is now The Bank of New York Mellon. > > [BNY - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bank_of_New_York_Mellon) > > You hop back into your UberChronoShifter and come to 2011 and walk up to a branch of The Bank of New York Mellon and provide your account book from 1891. > > Are you going to have anything remotely resembling a decent chance of actually getting your money, with interest, in hand, or is it likely that the money was turned over to the Government as abandoned property years ago, or that there is no way you can convince the bank that you didn’t find the bank documents in an antiques store and that you are actually the account holder or at least entitled to withdraw it? > > If you wanted to deposit money in the past and have the greatest chance of practically being able to cash out the money in a physical way (e.g. walk out of the bank (or the modern successor) in modern times physically carrying your cash or a cashier’s check), how could it be done? > > Feel free to substitute other banks or even other investment avenues as applicable. E.g. you could deposit the money at the Bank of the Ohio Valley in 1860 in Cincinnati and then attempt to withdraw from the modern Fifth Third Bank. If I’ve got a time machine, I can stop by the bank once every other year or so, and make a trivial transaction to keep the account active. On the other hand, if the amount of money is large enough, you can arrange an investment with a firm that can make contracts that last (say) 20 years without need for activity, and renew the contract periodically (posing as your remarkably similar looking son)… I refer you to Mack Reynold’s seminal “Compounded Interest” for more details ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/6 "2011-12-01T04:41:08Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > If I’ve got a time machine, I can stop by the bank once every other year or so, and make a trivial transaction to keep the account active. On the other hand, if the amount of money is large enough, you can arrange an investment with a firm that can make contracts that last (say) 20 years without need for activity, and renew the contract periodically (posing as your remarkably similar looking son)… I refer you to Mack Reynold’s seminal “Compounded Interest” for more details You’re assuming a time machine is cheap to operate. I got news for you. Anything that can warp the space-time continuum is going to take _way_ more than one point twenty-one jiggawatts. Frankly it’s going to take more than compound interest to pay for. I’d suggest investing heavily in some kind of fruit company. ---
**Author:** ![Consensus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@Consensus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consensus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/7 "2011-12-01T05:20:54Z")
If it is money you want, just sell the time machine… ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-could-you-safely-retrieve-the-money-you-deposited-in-the-past/604624/8 "2011-12-01T23:23:15Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > You’re assuming a time machine is cheap to operate. I got news for you. Anything that can warp the space-time continuum is going to take _way_ more than one point twenty-one jiggawatts. Frankly it’s going to take more than compound interest to pay for. I’d suggest investing heavily in some kind of fruit company. Make your first investment in some horse races to get a grubstake, and acquire a Mr. Fusion on your first trip to the future…