Over long time scales the relative value of things can change a lot. Salt and Grains have both lost a lot of their relative value over time. Diamonds are actu

Over long time scales the relative value of things can change a lot. Salt and Grains have both lost a lot of their relative value over time. Diamonds are actually worth far more now than they were in the past. Gold has maintained it's value fairly in Europe for a long time, but it was not worth all that much in south America. Unfortunately, for the gold bugs out there gold’s relative value often changes rapidly in the short time frame.