Dilemma

Please don't take offense, but...

I have a problem "buying" the coin from the recipient. The parent has no right. What would you rather have, an heirloom from your grandmother or half of the money that the heirloom is worth? I have a lithograph that once belonged to my great-great grandfather. While it does have significant monetary value, there is no price that I would be willing to sell it for. I would probably be a little bitter if my mom had it hanging in her living room and I had half of the cash that it was worth.

Instead of buying it, maybe some one should explain the value, both sentimental and intrinsic, to the recipient. Then let him know that, should he want to part with it, he should offer to sell it to a family member first.




The same thing happened with my family, just not with coins. The consensus from the more upstanding members of the family was to gratefully take what was given to us and keep our mouths shut. That way no one felt cheated, no feelings were hurt and grandma didn't have to deal with the sour grapes.

Pick a fair price and buy it from your son, but otherwise don't mention it. (a) People who don't want to collect coins probably don't want to know about how stupid they may be by not knowing their values. (b) Your son probably would prefer the cash. (c) People who don't collect coins shouldn't be entrusted with them. Heck, people who do collect coins regularly lose them.

Knowing stuff about coins is a useful way of buying low and selling high. But that's all it is. If you were a real estate agent and grandma gifted your family some real estate the principles would be the same. Or if you were given some old stock certificates and some of them turned out to be valuable. Just because you know something doesn't mean you have an obligation to tell everyone else about it (or that it's a good idea).

If someone accuses you of making money off of a coin, whether it's a relative or not, the response is something like:

"Coin collecting has been an expensive hobby, I only wish it were able to pay for itself."