The Gold Finger Award

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a New York landlord can enforce a “gold clause” in a building lease that allows it to be paid in gold rather than dollars.

After purchasing a heavily coveted piece of Cleveland real estate, Stuart Venner, a New York real estate investor, discovered and decided to enforce a gold clause contained in a lease agreement drafted in 1912.

The original lease agreement, which called for the tenant to pay $35,000 per year for 200,000 square feet, was converted to a demand for the equivalent of 35,000 1912 gold coins—a whopping $1.5 million.

Source: The American Lawyer