# The Most Valuable Artifact In The World? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 3, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338 "2011-08-03T17:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/21 "2022-09-19T22:29:32Z")
A magnetic monopole. We just have to find it first. Also, don’t drop it. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/22 "2022-09-19T22:31:54Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope, @sagewind. You might not have realized it, but the thread to which you responded is 11 years old, and the specific poster hasn’t posted since 2014. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/23 "2022-09-21T00:42:21Z")
Though we don’t have a complete inventory and whether a collection counts as an artifact is debatable, a case could be made for the Padmanabhaswamy Temple treasure. > **[Padmanabhaswamy Temple treasure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple_treasure)** > > The Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure is a collection of valuable objects including gold thrones, crowns, coins, statues and ornaments, diamonds and other precious stones. It was discovered in some of the subterranean vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, in the Indian state of Kerala, when five of its six (or possibly eight) vaults were opened on 27 June 2011. The vaults were opened on the orders of the Supreme Court of India, which was hearing a private petition seeking tran... Similarly, there are probably a bunch 2000 year old priceless artifacts in the Tomb of the First Qin Emperor in China. However, the main tomb has not been excavated and is best known for its terra cotta warrior army. > **[Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_the_First_Qin_Emperor)** > > The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Chinese: 秦始皇陵; pinyin: Qínshǐhuáng Líng) is the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty. It is located in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province of China. It was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BCE, and is situated underneath a 76-meter-tall tomb mound shaped like a truncated pyramid. The layout of the mausoleum is modeled on the layout of Xianyang, the capital of the Qin dynasty, which was divided into inner and ou ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/24 "2022-09-21T10:18:33Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > How is anything worth more than all the wealth in the entire world? It’s like when the owner of the antique shop looks you up and down and answers “more than _you_ can afford” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/25 "2022-09-21T13:24:03Z")
> [@sagewind](#): > > Technically the amount of money in circulation is like 50 times that of the actual value of all the goods and services availible in the planet. Welcome, but here we don’t just accept preposterous-sounding claims like this unless you can back them up. And your claim is indeed nonsense. Global GDP = 85 trillion _per year_. Multiply that by however many years you think the planet has left, with some discount factor. That’s the total value of all the goods and services available. Against that, various other things: Narrow money supply = $35 trillion Broad money supply = $95 trillion Total debt = $250 trillion Global stock market cap = $90 trillion Global real estate = $280 trillion There is no conceivable definition of total global wealth, let alone “money in circulation”, for which your assertion is within two orders of magnitude of being correct. > **[All of the World’s Money and Markets in One Visualization](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/all-of-the-worlds-money-and-markets-in-one-visualization-2020/)** > > Our most famous visualization, updated for 2020 to show all global debt, wealth, money, and assets in one massive and mind-bending chart. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/26 "2022-09-21T13:45:49Z")
I think, and this is a serious suggestion, all the big museum should have two tables near the main entrance. One table is samples of various substances (brass, wood, bronze, marble etc) that patrons are allowed to gently touch all they want. The second table would have identical samples behind glass. This would demonstrate why we shouldn’t be touching the exhibits and the damage even gentle touching will do. IIRC DuChamp has a sculpture in the Philly Museum Of Art. It’s behind a wall, behind two peep holes. That spot on the wall is extremely worn and weathered from all the noses rubbing againts it. Jamestown Virginia has a Pocahontas statue. It’s considered good luck to touch her arm. The arm is won through in spots. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/27 "2022-09-21T14:27:18Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The first time I saw the Rosetta Stone was in 1997. The British Museum had it on open display. Any patrons were allowed to touch it. This is so surprising that I wonder if it was (secretly) a replica. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/28 "2022-09-21T19:13:53Z")
Likewise a bronze statue of [St. Peter](https://stpetersbasilica.info/Statues/StPeter/StPeter.htm) at the Vatican; it’s considered good luck to touch or kiss his right foot, which has consequently been worn away to a flipper over the course of at least six centuries. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/29 "2022-09-21T19:39:15Z")
First thing I thought of was King Tut’s mask, The British crown jewels have to be up there. Supposedly the St. Edward’s Crown is the prize of the collection but personally I think the Imperial State Crown is by far cooler looking. ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/30 "2022-09-21T21:31:19Z")
I remember seeing it there on open display in 1990. I think it was roped off and while you weren’t actively encourage to touch it, the museum wasn’t so busy in those days and it wouldn’t have been a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/31 "2022-09-21T21:58:10Z")
Is it meaningful to discuss the “value” of anything in terms other than what someone would pay for it at any particular moment? And if an object is in a museum’s permanent collection and is not likely to ever be sold, can its value be ascertained? In terms of objects that were actually sold, the priciest I’m seeing is a DaVinci painting for some $450 mill. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/32 "2022-09-21T22:11:27Z")
Bah, the OP is clearly asking for an artifact, and everyone keeps naming things that aren’t even magical. Obviously the answer is the Hand of Vecna. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/33 "2022-09-22T00:56:59Z")
The Stairway to Heaven, but I hear it’s been sold. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338/34 "2022-09-22T01:01:05Z")
I have the San Graal. It’s disguised as a Hindu vessel for offering milk to the Divine. It sits atop a display case in my living room. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-valuable-artifact-in-the-world/591338.md?page=1)