Most Valuable Lost Artifact in the World Heirloom Seal of the Realm

Qianlong vase, sold for $69 million. The Hope Diamond, insured for $200 million. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, insured for $100 million in 1962, is now worth over $800 million when adjusted for inflation. These are some of the most expensive historical artefacts in the world. Their price tag may already seem astronomical for common folks like us, but there is one artefact, one long-lost artefact, that will be worth so much more than all these objects combined, when found. And that object is the one and only original imperial seal of China, also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. The object could be worth over $1 trillion, that's 12 zeros after the 1, but it could be worth much more. To know how I arrived at this figure, let's take a quick look at the history and origin of the artefact. The seal was carved out of the legendary jade piece, Hezi Bi, by the order of the first emperor of China, Qin Zihuang. Traditionally, jade have always been the Chinese's favourite type of gemstone, and the Hezi Bi was a very precious piece of jade. It was originally discovered and crafted in the state of Chu, during the 8th century BCE, spring and autumn period, before China was even united. Eventually, it came into the possession of the state of Zhao. By 283 BCE, the jade itself had already become a legendary artefact, and King Zhao Xiang of Qin, the great-grandfather of Qin Zihuang, wanted to purchase it from Zhao with 15 cities. But fearing that he might not honour his end of the bargain, the deal did not go through. By 221 BCE, when Qin Zihuang conquered all of China and became the first emperor, the Hezi Bi was in his possession. To celebrate the momentous event, he ordered his prime minister, Li Si, to carve the jade piece into the heirloom seal of the realm. The words, having received the mandate from heaven, may the emperor lead a long and prosperous life, were carved onto one side of the seal. The seal functions as a stamp. Used by Chinese emperors to sign their documents with. But more important than its practical function is its symbolic value. When the last ruler of the Qin dynasty gave it to Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty, it became the symbol of the passing of the mandate of heaven to a new dynasty. Thus, it became a legitimising tool for future emperors who want to establish their own dynasty. But of course, you will still need an army to win the war and secure power. Case point, Yuan Shu. In the Three Kingdoms period, when Sun Jian discovered the seal in a well, after defeating the tyrant Dou Zhuo, he gave it to his master, Yuan Shu. And when Yuan Shu declared himself an emperor prematurely, he drew the ire of all the other warlords and was quickly destroyed. Hold on, just before some of you try to correct me, you should know that the story of Sun Jian's son, Sun Ce, presenting the seal to Yuan Shu to borrow 3,000 soldiers came from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. In the real history, Sun Jian gave it to Yuan Shu right after he discovered it. Eventually, the heirloom seal of the realm was lost somewhere between the 10th to the 14th century CE. There are many theories as to how it got lost, but we don't know which version is the truth. During the Qin dynasty, the Manchu rulers were so afraid that the real heirloom seal of the realm would be rediscovered by a rebel, they created thousands of their own versions to devalue the original and make it difficult to find. One of these later creations itself could fetch up to $22 million at an auction. Now, how do we get the $1 trillion figure for the original? First of all, imagine if the real 100% genuine original heirloom seal of the realm is found and it is put up to auction and there is no way to steal it and all the bidders have to bid for it fair and square, then the two biggest bidders for this artifact would obviously be the governments of China and Taiwan. Those two entities have the biggest stakes for this item. Obviously, owning the seal would not magically turn either side into the legitimate government of both sides of the strait. They have their own political system after all. But the owner of the seal can gain immense cultural clout and be considered as the true cultural successor of 5,000 years of Chinese history and civilization. Losing this to the opposing side will not only cause immense loss of face for the government, the citizens of the losing side will also be tremendously upset. So this auction is not just a matter of national prestige, it is also a matter of national security. China obviously has more spending power than Taiwan. So we can figure out the bottom price range for the artifact by figuring how much Taiwan is willing to spend for it. I'd say that one year's worth of gross national savings is a reasonable price point. In 2017, Taiwan's GDP is 572.6 billion and their gross national savings is 34.9%. So they have around $199.83 billion that they can spend on this item. Now, let's say if the United States is willing to lend its ally Taiwan money to keep bidding, what do you think is the reasonable market value for this artifact? Using history as our guide, the Hezebi was valued at 15 cities. If we were to adjust it to inflation and use the GDP of a middle of the range Chinese cities like Shaoxing in China and multiply it by 15, then we get slightly over $1.1 trillion. But what is the absolute top limit China can spend on this thing? Using the same calculation method for Taiwan, we have $5.5 trillion. But then again, would they be willing to spend this much money for it though? I don't know. But what do you think? Can anything in the world, even if it is a civilization's cultural legacy, ever be worth that much money? But of course, if we really want to know what will happen, the heirloom seal of the realm needs to be found first. And this seal you have been looking at throughout the video obviously isn't the real seal because it is lost. Seal, deal, get it? But we do know some details of the heirloom seal that can help us find it. The original seal is mostly made of jade and one of its corners is chipped. In the year 9 CE, during Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han dynasty, the Empress Dowager was so angry at him she threw the heirloom seal to the ground and it chipped one of its corners. He later had the corner restored with gold. So it may look something like this. Also, on one of its sides is carved the words, having received the mandate from heaven, may the emperor lead a long and prosperous life. It should also be written in the ancient seal script style which was commonly used during the time period. So if the seal you found doesn't fit any of those descriptions, then you're out of luck. By the way, if you are entertained by the video, give it a thumbs up and if you like history from Asia and other parts of the world, then you should subscribe because we've got plenty more of those coming. Until next time, stay cool my bros.