The five most expensive gifts ever given

An old bottle of whiskey, a sporty car or a beautiful watch; gifts that can carry quite a price tag. However, it can always go a step further and a gift can cost the generous giver tens of millions or even billions. These are the five most expensive gifts ever given.

5. Tina Ambani's yacht (€78 million).

At the time of Indian businessman Dhirubhai Ambani's death in 2002, his company, Reliance Industries, was valued at €75.5 billion. The company was taken over by his sons Mukesh and Anil Ambani. This inheritance ensured that none of his children were left penniless. In 2008, Anil spent his money on a 34-meter yacht that he donated to his wife, Bollywood actress Tina Ambani. For the yacht he tapped about €78 million.

4. Koh-I-Noor diamond (€450.5 million)

In 1849, the British East India Company forced the last Sikh emperor Dalip Singh to abdicate the throne. As spoils of war, the British took numerous Persian possessions as spoils of war. The British gifted the exploited 186-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, the Mountain of Light, to England's Queen Victoria. At the time, the queen asked that it be made into a 105.6-carat diamond ornament since the brilliance did not appeal to her. In 1852, the diamond was cut in Amsterdam. The value of the crown jewel today is a whopping €450.5 million.

3. Taj Mahal (€768 million).

Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Indian structure was once a gift from an emperor to his wife. The Taj Mahal was worked on for 21 years - between 1632 and 1653. The gigantic marble mausoleum in Agra was commissioned by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan for his - favorite - wife Mumtaz Mahal. She died in childbirth while giving birth to her 15th child. After his death, Shah Jahan was also interred here. The total value of the "gift" are today €768 million.

2. The Leonard A. Lauder Collection (€1 billion).

American philanthropist and businessman Leonard Lauder donated no fewer than 78 works of art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2013. The collection, called The Leonard A. Lauder Collection, includes artworks by Pablo Picasso (33), Georges Braque (17), Juan Gris (14) and Fernand Léger (14). It is known as one of the most important art collections of the Cubism art movement in the world. The artworks are estimated to be worth €1 billion and is the largest gift to a museum ever.

1. Treaty of Alliance (€18.6 billion).

In 1778, after three years of war with Great Britain, the United States was in need of money and signed a treaty of alliance with France. This treaty gave them an unlimited supply of arms and military support to win the American War of Independence and contained enough money to get through the war. On Sept. 3, 1783, the war resulted in the independence of the United States. Today, it remains the most expensive gift ever given in history with a value of €18.6 billion.