In the same period, the value of a taxi medallion is up 1,900 percent.
To compare, the market value of an independent medallion sold in October was $426,000.
At the going rate, the total value of all medallions is more than $10 billion -- more than the market capitalization of several large U.S. airlines.
"Historically, the appreciation in value of all medallions protects people in that they can always borrow additional funds," Mr. Kanterman said.
(Many owners have objected to a city proposal that would allow livery cabs to pick up street hails outside busy parts of Manhattan, saying such a plan would lower the value of their medallions).
Those newcomers have hammered his industry and decimated the value of taxi medallions, once-valuable licenses to drive a cab that used to be seen as secure and lucrative investments.
But, by 1977, it was down to $35,000, a 93percentt fall that left the value of a Big Board seat worth less than a New York City taxi medallion.
Kinstone pieces are fragments of a medallion that are found throughout the course of the game.
Have some kind of a medallion, necklace or bracelet with an old sign or engraving on it.
But the steepest period of growth has been over the past decade, when the value of corporate medallions nearly quadrupled.
