# Bilbo's Fortune...



## reem (Feb 15, 2003)

When all was done and Bilbo went back to the Shire he only took two bags(or something like that) of gold ladden on one pony. but his fortune was great and none exactly knew how great it was. not even Frodo. so did Bilbo keep sending back to Bard to send him more of his share of the gold when he needed it? plus the troll gold that he and the other dwarves had found in the beggining of their adventure?
reem


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## Aulë (Feb 15, 2003)

I believe that those bags would have been rather large, and therefore would have contained a vast fortune.
I also doubt that inflation would have been as high in those days, so those riches would have lasted for a long time.


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## Niniel (Feb 15, 2003)

Gold is a really expensive metal, and two bags of gold would be enough to live on for the rest of your life, even in the world today (unless gold prices will fall suddenly or something).


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## Mirabella (Feb 15, 2003)

Also, Bilbo was well-to-do before his adventures with the Dwarves. Any gold he picked up would have been icing on the cake.


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## Wolfshead (Feb 17, 2003)

I had a thread about this a while ago in this section. Bilbo did bring a lot of gold back, and while it may not have been a vast sum in Erebor, with the hobbits it would have been. Remember they were farmers, not miners or collectors of wealth.

And his father had been rich, so he inherited that.


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## reem (Feb 19, 2003)

oh yah, i forgot about his already existing wealth...well, it all makes sense now...but what did he leave frodo then? in LOTR when bilbo left in the beggining it said that no gold was found in bagend. so what, he kept it safe somewhere for himself? he did say that he would leave everything (except for a few oddments) for frodo. so where is it? and i don't seem to remember any mention of it later...so??
reem


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## Mirabella (Feb 19, 2003)

It is true that the pesky youngsters who went looking for gold and jewels in Bag End did not find anything. Bilbo also gave away all the gold that he got from the trolls, because he felt it was never truly his since it came from theives. And there is a reference in TROTK about the bag of gold Bilbo gives to Sam being "the last of the Smaug vintage".

This is just my opinion, but it looks like Bilbo either spent or gave away all of the gold he acquired on his adventure. But he still had the wealth he inherited from his father...and his mother. Belladonna came from a wealthy family. It was this wealth that Frodo inherited as his heir. 

The Baggins were what you might consider hobbit aristocracy. Most of their wealth was no doubt tied up in landholdings and other assets.


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## reem (Feb 21, 2003)

but still, even if he did give away alot of his gold, it was still an extremely large fortune as the others had said. so how did he manage that? and who would he possibly donate it to? it was said in the Hobbit that the amount present in Bilbo's share of smaugs gold was more than what most mortal kings owned. can anyway, no matter how generous (or crazy!), be able to spend such a flabbergasting amount in a measely 60 years??
reem


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## Mirabella (Feb 21, 2003)

If Bilbo had indeed claimed his full fourteenth share, he would have had a vast sum of money...that's true. Bilbo did not, though, he only accepted two small chests of gold from the Dwarves.


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## reem (Feb 22, 2003)

is anything mentioned on the rest of his fortune?
reem


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## balrog (Feb 24, 2003)

It seems to me that Tolkien didn't really touch on the aspect of a money system or economy within the shire...more that they lived off the land.

If you have a fortune of gold or jewels, and there is no economy in which to spend it on...what would you need with it except for maybe status that you have it?!

my .02


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## reem (Feb 24, 2003)

hehe good point!!
still, i can't get the question of 'where did it all go' out of my [email protected]!!
reem


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## Burb (Feb 24, 2003)

it is mentioned that he was generous with his fortune and he shared it with friends and family.


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## BlackCaptain (Feb 24, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Pippin_Took _
> *I also doubt that inflation would have been as high in those days*



In those days? Haha... caught ya! That happened to me once


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## reem (Feb 26, 2003)

very well then! generous he was! the old fool foolishly squandered his fortune in the name of generousity! ha! obviously the Ring does not give its bearer the gift of 'Common Sense'!!
i let this thread rest, then
thanks for taking the time to hammer the idea into my head hehe! 
reem


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