Sometimes, miraculous financial windfalls happen when you need them most. A college student finding $20 in a jacket pocket on a Friday night. A relative who you didn’t really even like dropping dead and leaving you with a hefty inheritance. Or an institution of higher learning discovering they have an original copy of the Magna Carta. I’m sure you can relate.

Harvard University recently found the antiquities equivalent of a $20 bill in its archives. What was once thought to be an unofficial copy of King Edward I’s declaration of principles is now confirmed to be one of seven remaining legitimate documents left in the world. Harvard purchased this item in 1946 for a whopping $27.50, or $452.40 in today’s money. Now that the piece’s provenance is confirmed, it’s fair to say it’s actually priceless.

I’m sure you’ve read the whole Magna Carta, right? But if you haven’t, here’s the basics. The Magna Carta was drafted by Archbishop Stephen Langton as a means to squash a conflict between King John and a group of wealthy barons who felt they were being wrongly persecuted by the crown. The king accepted it in 1215. It laid out certain protections........

© The Guardian