In 1917 when the Bolsheviks seized power they renounced the debt, known as czar bonds. Over the ensuing decades speculators bought them for a penny or two on the dollar thinking they would hit the lottery and one or a few might pay.
History repeats
History repeats
https://twitter.com/dylangrice/status/1499312073741905925
Finally in 1997, 80 years later, after the Soviet Union fell, the Russian government made a small payment on some of these bonds, mainly to French bond holders. And the French government taxed most of it away.
nytimes.com/2000/11/19/wor…
nytimes.com/2000/11/19/wor…
Hold that penny or two in cash equivalents (t-bills) over those decades produced a far superior return.
A follow up …
About 20 years ago I bought this Russian bond from a collectibles dealer.
4.5% coupon raised 26m rijkmarks to build the Moscow to Kiev railroad issued in 1909. (How’s that going today?)
It proudly hangs on my wall as artwork, unless Vlad wants to pay me.
About 20 years ago I bought this Russian bond from a collectibles dealer.
4.5% coupon raised 26m rijkmarks to build the Moscow to Kiev railroad issued in 1909. (How’s that going today?)
It proudly hangs on my wall as artwork, unless Vlad wants to pay me.
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