It was a frequent phenomenon to conceal part of a private estate. There was also the 'liturgy' system, freeing the state from having to support a variety of activities financially but on the other hand placing the state in a relationship of economic dependency on the liturgists. These were obstacles to the Athenian state, preventing it from accurately assessing private people's financial standing. It seems - our evidence is mostly from orators' speeches - that a distinction could be made between 'visible' and 'invisible property' - a distinction that both the state and the citizens were happy with.

For an estate to become invisible, it had to be no longer legally related to the owner. This procedure was known as concealment of substance. An Athenian's basic motive in having recourse to it was to avoid taking up 'liturgies'.

Money was the easiest form of estate to convert into invisible substance. Depositing a sum of money at a bank was frequently followed by a 'gentleman's agreement' between banker and depositor that part or the whole of the sum should remain secret. Of course, from the moment an estate became invisible, the owner ceased to be the lawful beneficiary. Thus there was always a danger that the owner might later on be unable to get his estate back, because he would have no way of proving that it belonged to him. So we can see why it was terribly important to find a trustworthy partner for a transaction of this type.

Real estate was harder to conceal; but there were those who had a good try, using various ploys. An Athenian could normally convert real estate into movable property by cashing in (selling it). He had to be careful not to leave any trace of the transaction, however. People having recourse to this ploy had often to face the scorn of their neighbours. For somebody to sell with impunity an estate he could have undertaken the trierachy with was regarded as demeaning.
An alternative way of converting visible estate into invisible estate was to buy a plot of land or a house at a distance from the buyer's deme of residence. The sale would remain a secret, inasmuch as the owner would not exploit it.

| introduction | landowning-farming | trade | mines |	Classical Period
| state welfare | liturgies | private property |
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