Louis XVI or the NASDAQ?
You probably collect antiques for a variety of reasons. Beauty. The pleasure derived from owning a rare piece of history. Creating a magnificient home. But ... that doesn't mean you forget all sense of economics.

You'd like the assurance of knowing that if you change your mind, and wish to return a piece, you could always get your money back - with interest. And there are certain antiques that can provide you with hefty financial returns. Giving you the opportunity, of course, to obtain other antiques, if you like.

But which antiques give you an investment guarantee? Here's the rule. The more authentic the antique, the higher your return. Authenticity depends on two factors. First, the reputation of the seller. Ask if museums or historic properties have ever purchased from them. If so, it's a reliable indicator of the dealer's reputation. Second, is the "description" the dealer assigns to each piece. Listed below you'll find an example of the standard rating system used by most auction houses and better antique dealers.

1. Louis XVI Bureau Plat 3rd Quarter Century - Provenance: Louis XVI This description, which includes both date and provenance, means the piece was made during the time of Louis XVI's rule - and actually belonged to Louis himself. These pieces are of the HIGHEST investment quality. These kinds of pieces with authenticated provenance are almost entirely in possessions of the world's museums.

2. Louis XVI Bureau Plat - 3rd Quarter Century This description, with date, means the piece was made during the time of Louis XVI's rule. It is considered a genuine "period" piece. These pieces are rare, and are of EXTREMELY HIGH investment quality.

3. Louis XVI Bureau Plat This description, with date omitted, means that while the piece was probably made during the time of Louis XVI's rule, it has undergone significant restorations. These pieces are less rare, and have a MEDIUM investment quality.

4. Louis XVI - Style Bureau Plat Late 19th Century This description, with the word "style" included, means that it was made at a time that post dates the time of Louis XVI's rule. There are some exceptional quality 19th, and even early 20th, century pieces by makers such as Francois Linke, and they can fetch astronomical sums. These are HIGH investment quality. The majority of well made 19th century "reproductions" are considered MEDIUM to LOW investment quality.

5. Louis XVI - Style Bureau Plat This description, with the word "style" included, and date omitted means that it could have been made a few years ago. These are ZERO investment quality.

Are HIGH investment quality antiques really worry free? We say yes. And history has proven that to be true.

Recently, it seems like everybody has gotten into the stock market. You can't go to lunch without overhearing another .COM investment story. And until recently, all tech stocks seemed to give a worry-free investment. In fact, if you only made 25% in a year from a tech stock, you were deeply disappointed.

Then recently, of course, reality came crashing down.

Let's look at an antique and see how it compares to both "Good" tech type investments and "Bad" tech type investments.

We're certainly not saying you'd be better off dumping your investment portfolio and buying antiques. The truth is, stocks in the long term like Cisco, Intel, Sun Micro, EMC and Oracle have yielded unheard of returns for their investors.

But, there's also been the Pricelines ($104 to $6), the Amazons (Over $100 to $26), and even Lucent ($78 to $23).

The point is this. With a period antique, whose investment quality is HIGH, you will never have the down-side risks caused by "earnings warnings," "dilution," or "consumer confidence." And you can count on historic returns that match real estate.