Valuable artifact - what to do

[Anonymous]

OP is completely trolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I think this is what's going on--OP correct me if I'm wrong.

OP is younger than her siblings and unlike them, grew up around the object, so it's sentimental to her and not to them.

Therefore, a copy is not the same to OP. She wants the original.

She is worried that her siblings will get grabby with her and want the object just because she wants it.

She feels more entitled to the object, because she has the sentimental feelings toward it, but believes they'd get grabby either because they are grabby, or because it becomes a power situation.

She's thinking, in tort language..."Take and Pay." That it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

All good, OP, until you don't want to pay your siblings.

The object is worth MORE than market value to you because you have sentimental value attached to it.

So if you want this thing AND want to keep your relationships intact, I vote Take and Pay. Take, then offer MORE than 1/3. "There was a water leak so fixed it, but in doing so I had to move Object to my house. Object is worth 20K--see valuation attached to this email-- so I'm mailing each of you a check for 8K, which is over 1/3."

How is that, OP?

but the object is worth less than “market value” to me. this is because if I had it I couldn’t be able to sell it to whoever is willing to pay full price. there is no investment value whatsoever in it.

when I reflect upon it the object is worth at most $5000 to me. yes it has a sentimental value to me But I wouldn’t pay 10 grand for, say, an old photo of my parents either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I think this is what's going on--OP correct me if I'm wrong.

OP is younger than her siblings and unlike them, grew up around the object, so it's sentimental to her and not to them.

Therefore, a copy is not the same to OP. She wants the original.

She is worried that her siblings will get grabby with her and want the object just because she wants it.

She feels more entitled to the object, because she has the sentimental feelings toward it, but believes they'd get grabby either because they are grabby, or because it becomes a power situation.

She's thinking, in tort language..."Take and Pay." That it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

All good, OP, until you don't want to pay your siblings.

The object is worth MORE than market value to you because you have sentimental value attached to it.

So if you want this thing AND want to keep your relationships intact, I vote Take and Pay. Take, then offer MORE than 1/3. "There was a water leak so fixed it, but in doing so I had to move Object to my house. Object is worth 20K--see valuation attached to this email-- so I'm mailing each of you a check for 8K, which is over 1/3."

How is that, OP?

but the object is worth less than “market value” to me. this is because if I had it I couldn’t be able to sell it to whoever is willing to pay full price. there is no investment value whatsoever in it.

when I reflect upon it the object is worth at most $5000 to me. yes it has a sentimental value to me But I wouldn’t pay 10 grand for, say, an old photo of my parents either.

If it's worth less than market value to you- as in, you only like it enough to be willing to pay about a quarter of what it's worth- then what's the big idea? When I see a dress and I think "hmmmm, I'd buy that but only if it were marked 75% off" despite the price being within my budget, that doesn't scream "I LOVE THIS DRESS SO MUCH I WANT TO STEAL IT FROM THE STORE BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE BUYS IT!", does it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I think this is what's going on--OP correct me if I'm wrong.

OP is younger than her siblings and unlike them, grew up around the object, so it's sentimental to her and not to them.

Therefore, a copy is not the same to OP. She wants the original.

She is worried that her siblings will get grabby with her and want the object just because she wants it.

She feels more entitled to the object, because she has the sentimental feelings toward it, but believes they'd get grabby either because they are grabby, or because it becomes a power situation.

She's thinking, in tort language..."Take and Pay." That it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

All good, OP, until you don't want to pay your siblings.

The object is worth MORE than market value to you because you have sentimental value attached to it.

So if you want this thing AND want to keep your relationships intact, I vote Take and Pay. Take, then offer MORE than 1/3. "There was a water leak so fixed it, but in doing so I had to move Object to my house. Object is worth 20K--see valuation attached to this email-- so I'm mailing each of you a check for 8K, which is over 1/3."

How is that, OP?

but the object is worth less than “market value” to me. this is because if I had it I couldn’t be able to sell it to whoever is willing to pay full price. there is no investment value whatsoever in it.

when I reflect upon it the object is worth at most $5000 to me. yes it has a sentimental value to me But I wouldn’t pay 10 grand for, say, an old photo of my parents either.

If it's worth less than market value to you- as in, you only like it enough to be willing to pay about a quarter of what it's worth- then what's the big idea? When I see a dress and I think "hmmmm, I'd buy that but only if it were marked 75% off" despite the price being within my budget, that doesn't scream "I LOVE THIS DRESS SO MUCH I WANT TO STEAL IT FROM THE STORE BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE BUYS IT!", does it?

my concern with my oldest siblings is not that they would buy me off but rather that they would take it for free (move to their place) or (best case scenario) keep in the apartment that I have little reason to visit. I don’t think the thing is worth $20k to them either. You keep treating it as any other item of its type but it is significantly different. A house that has a tenant with a 10 year lease is worth much less than a similar empty home. 1000 lbs if gold is worth nothing if you can’t trade it. Now this does look nice etc but that’s not worth “market price” to anyone involved.

[Anonymous]

Get a copy made. Take the original and leave the copy in the joint apartment. Your siblings will never know the difference. Just be sure to hide yours if they ever come to visit you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a copy made. Take the original and leave the copy in the joint apartment. Your siblings will never know the difference. Just be sure to hide yours if they ever come to visit you!

this is what i came to DCUM for

as it happens i recently visited country B. and i saw a similar thing displayed in a restaurant and my 8 year old screamed "this is so fake". we never talked about/acknowledged that thing and i was surprised by this assessment. but yeah you could see that it was a fake. anyway - definitively don't hire the guy who made that one.

[Anonymous]

please, OP, tell us the whole story. I have been wondering all evening.

[Anonymous]

This is all troll BS. If it's ancient it can't only be worth $20k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I think this is what's going on--OP correct me if I'm wrong.

OP is younger than her siblings and unlike them, grew up around the object, so it's sentimental to her and not to them.

Therefore, a copy is not the same to OP. She wants the original.

She is worried that her siblings will get grabby with her and want the object just because she wants it.

She feels more entitled to the object, because she has the sentimental feelings toward it, but believes they'd get grabby either because they are grabby, or because it becomes a power situation.

She's thinking, in tort language..."Take and Pay." That it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

All good, OP, until you don't want to pay your siblings.

The object is worth MORE than market value to you because you have sentimental value attached to it.

So if you want this thing AND want to keep your relationships intact, I vote Take and Pay. Take, then offer MORE than 1/3. "There was a water leak so fixed it, but in doing so I had to move Object to my house. Object is worth 20K--see valuation attached to this email-- so I'm mailing each of you a check for 8K, which is over 1/3."

How is that, OP?

but the object is worth less than “market value” to me. this is because if I had it I couldn’t be able to sell it to whoever is willing to pay full price. there is no investment value whatsoever in it.

when I reflect upon it the object is worth at most $5000 to me. yes it has a sentimental value to me But I wouldn’t pay 10 grand for, say, an old photo of my parents either.

If it's worth less than market value to you- as in, you only like it enough to be willing to pay about a quarter of what it's worth- then what's the big idea? When I see a dress and I think "hmmmm, I'd buy that but only if it were marked 75% off" despite the price being within my budget, that doesn't scream "I LOVE THIS DRESS SO MUCH I WANT TO STEAL IT FROM THE STORE BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE BUYS IT!", does it?

my concern with my oldest siblings is not that they would buy me off but rather that they would take it for free (move to their place) or (best case scenario) keep in the apartment that I have little reason to visit. I don’t think the thing is worth $20k to them either. You keep treating it as any other item of its type but it is significantly different. A house that has a tenant with a 10 year lease is worth much less than a similar empty home. 1000 lbs if gold is worth nothing if you can’t trade it. Now this does look nice etc but that’s not worth “market price” to anyone involved.

Is there any way to get an objective appraisal of what the object is worth? If it can’t be sold, the appraiser would have to take that into account in coming up with a value. Then divide by three and send a check for one third to each sibling.

If it is not worth it to pay for the object, I would suggest having a really good photograph taken of the object and, either framing a large size of the photo, or having an artist do a nice painting of the photo. Then you can take that anywhere you want, even to your house here in the US, and enjoy looking at it whenever you want.

[Anonymous]

painting is an interesting idea, thanks

[Anonymous]

All of us own other property and we use this common property for visits, vacations... I am thinking about taking the artifact and moving it to my own place (abroad). However, if I ask my siblings t I will draw attention to it so they will take it first. How bad would be the fallout if I just took it?

So then take it. If you think that your siblings will grab it when they find it that you want it then take it first. Its not like everyone will be shocked that someone took something if they are the type to run in and grab it from you first. After you move it don't hide it. When someone asks, just say yes I moved it to my XYZ house because it looks there and has sentimental value. You could add that if you ever sell it you would split the proceeds with them. You haven't sold it so its not as if you owe them money. Just be aware that they will jump in and start taking things from the apartment too. You may want to photograph the contents first so that down the road if you do sell it you can ask for your split from whatever else vanished before paying them.

The fallout depends on YOUR reaction. It sounds like they bully you so expect for them to bully to you. If you don't care -which you shouldn't- then just ignore it.

[Anonymous]

If you truly want to be devious, tell your siblings that your chid broke it and that you have removed it to be “repaired”. Then, move it to your house and never say another word, unless your siblings say something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The word for that is “theft.”

This.

Really, op?

[Anonymous]

So the apartment is unlivable and only used for storage by a group of siblings who all keep other residences in the same foreign country? Your siblings have no issue with this colossal waste? (Clearly you all have money to spare anyway) I guess if they are older than you, just wait it out until they die.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all troll BS. If it's ancient it can't only be worth $20k

Depends entirely on what it is. Plenty of antiquities are not expensive. Some are worth millions. And there's a lot of ethics surrounding antiquities because much of it is/was looted.

I'm fascinated by this object and I don't know why OP won't tell us more information. As in what countries are we talking about here? What country A is regularly at war with country B that fits these requirements? Somewhere in the Middle East? But OP's deliberate vagueness does suggest this is more troll than not.