A rare item has hit the auction block: an investment guaranteed to pay as long as people fret over bad breath.

Bids are being taken until the end of Tuesday on a share of royalties backed by Listerine mouthwash sales. They stem from contracts signed 140 years ago by its inventor and still cited in business law classes that require the maker — now Johnson & Johnson (J&J) — to pay shareholders in perpetuity...

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