Freedom Shares

Like a majestic bald eagle on the 4th of July, freedom shares soared into American life amidst a chorus of oohs and ahhs.

Okay, we weren’t there, so we’re not a hundred percent sure about the oohs and ahhs. But what we do know is that the U.S. Treasury issued freedom shares for only three years—1967-1970, to be exact—and allowed people to purchase them for 81% of their face value. In other words, if we bought a $10,000 bond, we only would have paid $8,100 for it. What a steal, right? They had a thirty-year maturity, earned interest for their buyers, and also had kind of a BOGO deal going on: in order to buy freedom shares, we also had to buy a Series E bond of equal or greater value.

So why did freedom shares exist? Well, if we think back real hard, we might recall that the United States was engaged in a super-expensive war during that period of time. (Hint for the puzzled: Vietnam.) The government needed money, so they started offering highly attractive bonds as a way to stimulate investment and fund the war. This wasn’t the first time the U.S. government sold bonds to help finance war efforts, but it was the first time war bonds were given such a totally awesome name.