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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Hrefn, post: 8177846, member: 115171&quot;]Sold our unimproved land for precisely that reason.&nbsp; Not sure what property taxes were like back in Twain’s day, but i suspect both taxes and inflation were substantially lower.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Unlike land, thus far the government has not devised a scheme to tax the unrealized gains on collectibles.&nbsp; Some of which “gain” is an illusion cast by inflation.&nbsp; E.g., the Solidus I posted above seems cheap at $45, but in 1960 forty-five US dollars would buy 1.28 Troy ounces of gold.&nbsp; Today that much gold would be in excess of $2300, a not unreasonable price for a gold Solidus of Constantius II today.&nbsp; So, we could say that the price of the Solidus in gold is essentially unchanged. But the price in dollars is up fifty fold. Actual increase in wealth?&nbsp; Zero.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The financial benefit of collecting, in my view, proceeds from being an very enjoyable and intellectually stimulating hobby which doubles as an illiquid sort of savings account, moreover a savings account which will probably keep pace with inflation at worst.&nbsp; Numismatists with a good eye and specialized knowledge may do even better.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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