A magnetic monopole. We just have to find it first. Also, don’t drop it.
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.
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.
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.
It’s like when the owner of the antique shop looks you up and down and answers “more than you can afford”
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.
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.
This is so surprising that I wonder if it was (secretly) a replica.
Likewise a bronze statue of St. Peter 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Stairway to Heaven, but I hear it’s been sold.
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.