The New York Stock Exchange receives interest on 'perpetual bonds' issued 400 years ago.

It is not known when the world's oldest bonds were issued, but known surviving ones date back to the 15th century. For example, Yale University holds a bond issued in 1648, while the New York Stock Exchange holds a bond issued on December 10, 1624, and to commemorate 400 years since its issue, they received interest.

Waterschap betaalt rente uit op oudste nog rentegevende obligatie ter wereld - HDSR

Happy 400th birthday to the world's oldest bond

The bond held by Yale University is one of five surviving bonds issued in 1648 by the Dutch water management organization 'Hoogheemraadschap De Stichtse Rijnlanden.' The face value is '1,000 guilders.'

The one held by the New York Stock Exchange dates back more than 20 years, to 1624. On New Year's Day that year, the Lek River in central Holland burst its banks, and the local waterworks company, Hoogheemraadschap Lekdijk Bovendams, issued bonds to raise funds for repairs.

One of the 1,200 guilders bonds issued on December 10, 1624, went to a wealthy woman named Elsken Joris Dohter. The bond was a perpetual bond that paid 2.5% interest, meaning that the descendants of Joris Dohter who inherited the bond, as well as any other people who subsequently acquired the bond, were entitled to receive the interest.

The guilder was the unit of currency used from 1434 to 2002, and with the change to the euro, the final exchange rate was fixed at 1 euro = 2.20371 guilders, or 1 guilder = 0.453780 euros. If you hold the bond, you will receive 13.61 euros (about 2,200 yen) per year.

After the bonds were sold to Joris de Hoter's descendants, they were auctioned off and purchased by Albert Andries, a director of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, who donated them to the New York Stock Exchange as a token of friendship during a visit to New York in 1938.

The New York Stock Exchange had not received any interest for some time, but to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the bond's issuance, it held an event to receive 22 years' worth of interest.

The bond issuer, Hoogheemraadschap Lekdijk Bovendams, no longer exists, and its successor, Hoogheemraadschap De Stichtse Rijnlanden, is now paying the interest. The interest paid was donated by the New York Stock Exchange to the local flood defense museum.