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2 cents from an occasional poster, frequent lurker..
i don't like people making money selling our sacred objects, and i never will. but, i can totally understand that some unaffiliated people are genuinely interested in the historical value of a collection of badges. i'm not excusing the sellers, but personally i think the concept of badges and the history of fraternities and sororities is fascinating, and i could see thinking that even if i weren't affiliated.
i can also definitely see the pragmatic collectors' points of view where, if the badge is SO important to someone, why would the collector have been able to buy it in the first place? they have every right to buy and sell something that they came across legally. like someone said above, unless there is paperwork for each particular badge proving it is "stolen", sadly there's not much we can do aside from buying them back. what we CAN do is educate our members to take care of your badge, make plans for it in your will, tell your family members how important it is that you are buried with it or it is returned to headquarters. i don't think anything will ever eliminate the problem of people out for a quick buck, but i do have a hard time believing that every single badge now for sale was properly cherished by its member.
hope i didn't offend anyone.
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