> The tangible items that aren't primarily faith-based are land and housing, so they do well as reliable investments.
Why are you ignoring commodities? Wheat, iron, oil etc. are all commodities that are much more useful as a monetary base than land and housing because they are orders of magnitude more liquid (meaning you can acquire it and subsequently sell it while incurring a smaller loss).
The commodities you mentioned work better as a "currency" than "stored value" for an individual. For a physical object to work as a stored value, especially over longer periods, it's got to be durable and convenient to store and protect. Real estate/land satisfies all those as long as the surrounding political situation remains stable.
If the state turns rogue or falls apart then you are better off hoarding (or running away) with gold.
I don't remember the details, but someone asked a member of a rich European family how they had managed to preserve their wealth over centuries. The answer was "one third art, one third gold, one third land". Any of those can fail due to seizure, political instability, etc, but most of the time at least one will maintain value and remain under your control.
Why are you ignoring commodities? Wheat, iron, oil etc. are all commodities that are much more useful as a monetary base than land and housing because they are orders of magnitude more liquid (meaning you can acquire it and subsequently sell it while incurring a smaller loss).