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Collectibles have been a part of almost every culture since ancienttimes. Whereas some objects have been collected for their usefulness, others have been selected for their aestheticbeauty alone. In the United States, the kinds of collectibles currently popular range from traditional objects such as stamps, coins, rarebooks, and art to more recent items of interest like dolls, bottles, baseball cards, and comic books. Interest incollectibles has increased enormously during the past decade, in part becausesome collectibles have demonstrated their value as investments. Especially during cycles of high inflation, investors try topurchase tangibles that will at least retain their current marketvalues. In general, the most traditional collectibles will be sought becausethey have preserved their value over the years, there is an organized auctionmarket for them, and they are most easily sold in the event thatcash is needed. Some examples of the most stablecollectibles are old masters, Chinese ceramics, stamps, coins, rarebooks, antique jewelry, silver, porcelain, art by well-known artists, autographs, and period furniture. Other items of more recent interest include old photograph records, old magazines, post cards, baseball cards, artglass, dolls, classic cars, old bottles, and comic books. These relatively new kinds of collectibles may actuallyappreciate faster as short-term investments, but may not hold their valueas long-term investments. Once a collectible has had its initial play, it appreciates at a fairly steady rate, supported by anincreasing number of enthusiastic collectors competing for the limited supplyof collectibles that become increasingly more difficult to locate. | 
