(MONEY Magazine) – It's an investing rule of thumb that the fair market price of an ounce of gold tends to equal roughly the price of a well-made man's suit. Presumably, then, at any given time a speculator could consult his haberdasher to determine whether gold was over- or undervalued. The truism didn't hold true, however, when hyperinflation caused gold to peak at $850 an ounce in January 1980. That was too late for Elvis Presley, who died in 1977. In the 1950s he had bought a $10,000 gold lame suit that its maker, Nudie's of Hollywood, says was 24 karat. The suit would be worth a lot today (it unaccountably vanished), as is Elvis memorabilia made of lesser materials. An Elvis lipstick, for example, that cost a dollar in 1956 now goes for $1,000 -- a gain of 100,000%.

CHART: TEXT NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: PAUL LICHTER'S ELVIS ARCHIVES CAPTION: NO CAPTION DESCRIPTION: Price of suits and price range of gold, 1972 to 1986. Color: Elvis Presley in gold lame suit.