Original retail price in 1992: pounds 14.99.Tip from Joanna Herald, a partner in the Ulysses bookshop in Museum Street, central London: Silk by Alessandro Baricco, published by Harvill Press, still in print at pounds 9.99 hardback, pounds 6.99 paperback. Six months ago, before its Oscar- winning film debut, Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient, could be had for pounds 25 Now it is pounds 300. How's your literary discernment, for instance? In the past decade, auction prices for mint-condition first editions complete with dustwrapper of John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman have dropped by half from their peak pounds 400-pounds 500.Critical consensus has hoicked the dealers' price of first editions of Irving Walsh's 1994 paperback Trainspotting - only about 1,000 were printed - to pounds 500 from its retail price of pounds 4.99. Dunhill's original Namikis of the Thirties can fetch over pounds 5,000 at auction.Sheer quality can yield instant profit. At auction, even in its first year, the splendid pen sustained its pounds 850 retail price and the year after was fetching pounds 1,100 - a sign that the time taken for some contemporary collectables to acquire added value was shortening drastically.They are now worth pounds 3,000 mint and boxed in factory condition - a 350 per cent increase in five years. Subsequent Montblanc annual limited editions have earned more modest premiums but are still nice little earners: the Octavian of 1993, also pounds 850 retail, commands pounds 1,500-pounds 2,000 at auction, and is still a good investment.Pitfalls for speculators: uneven allocation by fountain pen manufacturers, leading to premium prices in some countries and discounting in others.Investment tip: Dunhill's first limited edition pen, the Namiki, with lacquer designs hand-painted by named Japanese artists, issued last year in four editions of 200, prices pounds 820 to pounds 5,200 for a special in powdered gold. This year, a twin set of fountain pens called Peter and Catherine the Great is retailing for pounds 1,300.

By the end of the year it will be selling at Bonhams, the London auctioneers, for pounds 1,600-pounds 1,800. There are three reasons for the premium value: the twin set is by Montblanc, German makers of the world's best-known brand of quality pens: supply is limited to 4,810 (Mont Blanc's height in metres): such special editions are annual, making them a must for fountain pen collectors wanting complete runs (this happens to be the first twin).When, as recently as 1992, Montblanc issued its first limited edition pen, the Lorenzo de Medici, knowledgeable collectors snapped it up, sensing correctly that they were in at the start of something lucrative. It is essential individuals provide for their own future pensions. But it is foolish to try to force people to join pension schemes when the formula is frequently so unsatisfactory.. Some of today's limited-edition collectables increase in value almost as soon as they leave the shops. Fountain pens, first-edition novels, records, CDs, telephone and trading cards and classic cars can turn a quick profit for a buyer in the know. If the industry cannot do it, perhaps Government can.Government must in any case play its part by changing the Inland Revenue rules that now oblige an employee to cease contributions to a personal pension if he or she wants to join an employer's pension scheme.No one suggests anyone should get full tax relief simultaneously on two pensions but tax relief should certainly be available on a token contributions needed to keep a personal pension scheme ticking over, against the day when the employee might want to reactivate it.Employers could also help by agreeing to contribute to personal pension schemes as well as company schemes, thereby giving employees a fairer choice whether to join a company scheme or continue with their portable pension plan.Too many employers take the view that employees with a personal pension can look after themselves and there is no need for the employer to match the contributions he would make to a company scheme.There is no time to waste.

Without it the latest revelations can only increase the reluctance of individuals to take out a pension plan to meet the undeniable need to provide for their own pensions in future. If that cannot be done for existing policies and we suspect it could, it must certainly be done for new policies starting from the earliest possible date.We also think that there is a strong case for the industry to devise a blueprint for a new, clear, comprehensible and above all cheap personal pension plan with charges more evenly spread throughout the life of the plan, and with built-in flexible periods when holders can reduce contributions to a token level at times when they are out of work or are working for an employer with a more attractive company scheme.That blueprint should become the basis for a standard policy. Charges are only part of the arithmetic that decides how big a pension an employee will eventually receive out of a set contribution, and the investment performance will be much more important if pension plans are allowed to run for 20 years or more. Neither may be able to do much about individual cases, but several thousand letters on their door mat would provide irresistible proof of the need for reform.The Independent does believe it has the proof required to show that there is an ongoing problem of mis-sold pensions, and that some companies behave notably better than others.