The effect of fincancial matters on physical goods

 From the Wheels of Commerce by Fernand Braudel, Volume 2, p. 241, 

"The first ship to arrive in St. Petersburg in 1701, a Dutch vessel, received from Peter the Great the privilege of paying no customs duties for the rest of its physical life -- a concession which had the effect of prolonging the ship's life for almost a century, three or four times the normal span."