My wife's father died 6 years ago and was a chief of police in a province deep down South. He had 10 children and my wife was the youngest and as he trusted her the most left everything to her in his will to be the executor. Her oldest sister lives in the house and my wife pays off the mortgage which was robbed by the oldest stepson who took a loan out on the house and then reneged on the loan.

The plan is in the very near future to sell the house for what we can get and move various parts of the family to Hat Yai. In his house he had a Buddha room and he was an avid collector of antique Buddhas and amulets and there are dusty drawers filled to the brim with mint boxes - literally hundreds of them.

I am trying to persuade here to a) acknowledge that they might be really valuable and by selling some of them and realising the value she could distribute some much needed funds to family members. This she seems reluctant to do as these belonged to her father and to be selling them appears to be sacrilegious to his memory.

So my question is if I was to photo them is there anywhere I could go to get a fair idea of their value and secondly how can I persuade her that they are of more good in the here and now to help the family with

bills , education , or whatever purpose they could put it too rather than gathering dust and at risk of being stolen of burned down where they are at the moment.

I would welcome both worldy perspectives and a Buddhist take on this dilemna and practical suggestions to bring my wife to a more logical , practical approach than here current one.

I think the first step would be to buy one of the many Thai amulet magazines on sale. They would have details of amulet markets, buyers and sellers, etc.

How about to get an estimated value of each piece, distribute to the family, and let them to make the decision in keeping or selling it?

Thanks for the replies - getting a magazine and letting my wife leaf through it might be a good start. To my western logical mind there is a need to be filled and an obvious route - but to a Thai and precious family Buddhas there's a whole lot of other stuff coming into play and I will need to tread carefully and slowly to win her round to what I would consider is the best and most logical route.

Bear in mind they may not be worth much, many are almost worthless in money terms

Bear in mind they may not be worth much, many are almost worthless in money terms

Actually that might be a result because if that's the case they can be distributed without rancour and stay in the family as treasured heirlooms rather than instigating a period of potential jealousy , upset and decision making from my wife as to how to divide her father's assets up equitably and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Money brings a lot of problems with it..

Dealers in Buddha images are as unscrupulous as dealers in second-hand motor cars. Gold shops keep stocks of them to swap a fake for a real one if one ever comes into their hands to have a case put upon it.

To get an honest appraisal wound IMHO be difficult.

Thanks fabianfred these are murky waters indeed but then again this is Thailand and the world of Buddha magic sadly....