"All currencies eventually returns to its intrinsic value ...ZERO"

"Paper money, eventually return to their intrinsic value: Zero."

Thus stated Voltaire in 1700.

And indeed, looking at the history of the great empires before him, and which therefore he would certainly have studied.

Various currencies have always diluted in value, gradually tending to 0 over the decades, as various inflationary waves followed one after another, at irregular intervals.

Indeed, even when #inflation returns to levels considered "acceptable", prices usually never return to pre-inflationary crisis levels.

This has been the fate of many dominant "empires" over the millennia, especially during their terminal phase.

It was the fate of the great Roman Empire, the Dutch Empire, but also the fate of minor powers throughout the history of the economy, up to 2000 years later.

Such as Germany in 1926, to the countless currencies in heavy-accelerated decline of the present days, in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Turkey, Zimbabwe, etc. etc.

After all, even monitoring the best currencies of the present, such as the #Dollar, we should notice that the real purchasing power a few decades ago, was much higher than its purchasing power of today.

In 1961, with an average of $ 19,800, it was possible to buy a beautiful house in the USA.

Today, 382,000 are needed on average.

And we are discussing about the Dollar, which is considered a "store of value", and is therefore, the strongest #FIAT currency in the world, as the currency of the United States , which is currently the leading economic and military nation, even though it is just starting to being "challenged" for world leadership.

Try to imagine what has happened over the decades to the value of other minor currencies, which instead are NOT a store of value.

On the other hand, this process of value "dilution", is, as Voltaire said, in the very nature of all currencies.

It is a process that has been going on with human nature, inexorable, for millennia. But it has accelerated massively since August 15, 1971, when after Bretton Woods, currencies became #FIAT currencies, i.e., with no correlation with respect to real holdings of gold by that nation, therefore governments can now create the amount of money they want out of nothing, potentially without limits.

This, although it may be difficult to understand for those who lived only after 1971, is an anomaly in history, and not a normality.

The fact that many of us have only experienced an #economy of FIAT currencies, does not mean that this has always been the case.

Before 1971 it was not.

All this situation has created and still creates a big headache for those who would like to preserve the purchasing power of their #money, practically forcing them to #invest, taking a risk in order to try to get better returns and protect the value of their assets as much as possible.

A very complex environment for savers, where by saving only in FIAT currency, it becomes almost impossible to defend their accumulated monetary value, which perhaps,they would like also to pass to their future generations.

Over the decades, many stock indices have held value better than FIAT currencies, such as the US stock indices. (Not counting #dividends)

Assets, like several real estate properties, have held their value better than FIAT currencies, although here too, as well as in the indices, there has been volatility, with price collapses, even significant in the short term.

Fortunately, there are not only FIAT currencies to hold the value, but there are also "hard assets" ,which, being partially or totally "rare", tend to better retain value.