We were in Europe (for the first time since we married in 1970) in the spring of 1985. At that time the US Dollar was the strongest in history compared to the GBP and I think most of the European currencies. The GBP dropped to a low of 1.06 USD in March, 1985. I believe that was the all time low vs. the USD. On our wish list had been an Austrian grand piano, a Boesendorfer 225 (7'4" with 92 keys) which was selling for close to $60,000 in the US, way, way beyond our budget. However we found the price in Europe (we ended up buying one from the Boesendorfer dealer in Paris) for $24,000 including air freight to our home in California. My wife was able to pick one that she wanted, choosing it from four that were in the Vienna location (on Boesendorferstrasse) where final voicing and tuning was done. The Boesendorfer people actually picked us up from our hotel in Vienna and took us on a private tour at the main factory in Wiener Neustadt.
We didn't realize we were actually doing currency arbitrage to buy our piano. It still sits in our living room. Here is Cliburn winner Jon Nakamatsu playing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 2 on our Boesendorfer 225 with his accompanist Chris Salocks playing the orchestral part on our second piano during a home concert we did in the spring of 2019.
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Larry