32 million dollar for a 8cm wide porcelain cup
 

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-26935113

Sometimes I wonder about the definition of the term "mental sanity".

Seeing that thing, i would expect to see many of that sold from big boxes at Woolworth for 0.99 per item. :doh:

http://cinemagogue.com/wp-content/up...y-belloq-2.jpg

The good old days of the porcelain standard.
There is a relatively fixed number of these pieces of porcelain and the government cannot manipulate their value by simply firing more.:03:

This "insanity" is a standard variation of your economic ideal.

I bet if you check the bottom of the cup it says...
MADE IN CHINA:shifty:

Not really true, for the French professo implies his assessment is a general "absolute" to which everybody would agree. But obviously an anceint old cup would not be worth just any amount of money to everybody - most people would consider it a broken, old item, not worth their money.

If that old porcelain cup would be agreed by EVERYBODY (= the vast majority) to be of that much value, then maybe we would get a new currency of old porcelain cups :D. Then you pay your two donuts with scratching a microscopic tiny grain off that porcelain, to pay with it. :) That this does not happen, obviously means that there are other items more fit to serve in that function, and more agreeable to be used from most people's POV, and too few people would agree that that cup has become priceless just becasue it has been buried in the sand for long.

So, I disagree, Monsieur! :D

I instantly had that scene on my mind, too, when reading the story, Betonov! :know:

As long it has value to one person, it has value.

But most probably, someone is just betting it's price will go up the next time it's put on auction. So be it, it means that someone has an interest of keeping this little piece of history intact.

It is worth what one is willing to pay for it.

The insurance people at Lloyds of London (Rroyds of Rondon?) are rubbing their hands together anticipating payment of a hefty premium.:doh:

Speculate to accumulate. Can't see the antiquities market going down any time soon. Probably a safer bet than the gold standard! :haha:

That's why I'm keeping my Austria Hungary silver coins.
My father wants me to sell them ASAP, but I'll take the risk that prices might go up

I doubt the purchaser will be all that interested in cashing in on his investment for a good while. This is the only one in China.

Generally, fads aside, antiquities increase in value over time, so it's a fairly good bet. I mean, a one pfennig coin from the 9th century is probably worth a heck of a lot more than one pfenning now (or whatever that translates to in Euros).

To be fair, this is probably the best specimen of Ming Dynasty porcelain. You know how much money a museum in China is willing to pay for that stuff?

the mind of the Ming beholder is a mysterious thing
 

:DArguably the ultimate oxymoron (ὀξύμωρον-still Greek to me!) and then there's the Norwegian point-of-view...it's enough to leave ya screamin'! The pastel version(of 4)" The Scream" just sold at Sotheby's in 2012 for $122.2...:huh:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...The_Scream.jpgThe price boggles but the concept is clear enough... in any language!

"Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it." Either Publilius Syrus or Leonard Nimoy

It depends.
A few years back some porcelain was making great prices because it was clearly a limited supply, even slightly damaged pieces were selling well due to its scarcity.
Then someone discovers a dutch east-Indiaman with its Chinese cargo intact, many thousands of pieces in pristine condition come onto the market and the price tanks.

Oh my God - 36 million for an ensemble that is not even complete... :-?

Counting on collector's value for coins is for luxurious times only. Once the stuff hits the fan, its all just the material value you get when bartering gold or silver coins, since preferences by collectors then are no currency anymore that anyone bartering for existential goods would accept as long as he is not stinking rich still (and then would be able to drop your price). Collectors' values by experience then play little or no role anymore.

But you could be right for a different reason, since silver, compared to gold, is massively underrated in price.

If they are right and the stock indices go into a dive this year, the gold price will sharply rise. Silver as well, I would think. A crisis in paper moeny is good fior gold and silver, but comes at the growing risk of a gold prohibition. Maybe better invest in porcelain cups indeed. :hmmm:

If TSHTF then Gold and Silver will probably be worth less than that China cup, at least you can use the cup to drink from, what can you do with Gold and Silver without the infrastructure to support an economic system?

Tribesman makes a good point on recovered items, it is all about the scarcity of the object after all. So that being said, an even better investment than Gold, Silver or Chinese tea cups would probably be alcohol, most specifically whiskey or wine. Both increase in price the older they get, and both can still be used for bartering if TSHTF.

There's my tip, buy booze.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/...60_233x352.jpg

I'll take my payment for financial advice in Glenfiddich. :yep:

We have been there, and also had tobacco, salt, and many more obscure things (even spam). For some reasons humans left that behind and favoured certain metals. Maybe because it proved to be more practical in everyday life? Or do you want to make a getaway escape run from disaster - with a car full of fragile bottles? That you cannot divide to pay something that is of lesser value?

Somebody said stuff is worth what people are willing to pay for it. Not many are willing to pay much for wine and alcohol, or porcelain (or paintings, statues and the like). But since very long time, gold and silver is agreed by overwhelming majorities of mankind to be precious, practical and pragmatic. It seems empirical experience have convinced them.

Some also invest in precious watches. But not only does that - like wine - need very good insider knowledge and competence to separate the expensive junk from the watches that could preserve value for some time indeed, but the worth of the watch is gone when you break it. Can't happen with gold and silver: the value is independent from the form you give to it: necklaces, rings, coins, bars, nuggets: unimportant. The material value attributed to it remains to be the same.

When that Chinaman breaks that cup, its value is gone, for the material of porcelain itself has little value. Eventually the insurance helps out then. Not with gold, of course.

With paper money...