"Another story connected with the Tim Price/Ernest Hemingway anecdote you published last evening. But you don't have to go back to WW1.

"A few years ago I was visiting Rumania and our young guide told me about his parents. They had been hard working citizens and also members of the Communist Party. Their ambition was to save enough to buy a small house in the country for their retirement and to this end they put aside as much money as they could for many years. Eventually they achieved their aim, they had accumulated enough Romanian Leu in the bank to make a down payment on the property of their choice. And at the same time came the economic collapse of the Soviet Empire. And my friend's parents discovered that their life savings were worth $4 and a half.

"I asked my friend how he saved, and he told me that every week he bought dollars which he kept under the bed.

"Me, I'm buying gold and keeping in a vault."

David Fuller's view What a tragic story. Thank you because these testimonials are useful reminders. We all know that fiat currencies never retain their value over the long term. Moreover, economic and political collapse can wipe them out very quickly.