BTW, I posted this before: namespace boost { namespace serialization { template<class T> struct implementation_level<std::complex<T> > { typedef mpl::integral_c_tag tag; // typedef mpl::int_<primitive_type> type; typedef mpl::int_<object_serializable> type; BOOST_STATIC_CONSTANT( int, value = implementation_level::type::value ); }; template<class T> struct tracking_level<std::complex<T> > { typedef mpl::integral_c_tag tag; typedef mpl::int_<track_never> type; BOOST_STATIC_CONSTANT( int, value = tracking_level::type::value ); }; template<class Archive, class T> inline void serialize (Archive &ar, std::complex<T>& z, const unsigned int file_version) { ar & boost::serialization::make_nvp ("real", real(z)); ar & boost::serialization::make_nvp ("imag", imag(z)); } } }