Twenty years ago my late grandfather asked for my help to sell his Jacob Stainer en.wikipedia.org... violin online, he came to me because at the time, I was the family internet wizkid.

Not many people know, but Stainer was more famous than Stradivarius in his time, and his violins may be worth from $100,000 to millions of dollars: www.quora.com/Wh...

My grandfather actually had the violin appraised in the 1970's and he had a certificate of authenticity valuing the violin at $25,000 dollars:



But the catch is - it's not really a Stainer from the 18th century. It's a replica. And my grandfather and I discovered this together.

My grandfather was already in his late 80's and he had kept this violin - which he bought at a warehouse auction - for decades.

I took an offline move and we visited a famous orchestra conductor together and this person broke the bad news to us. I could see his disappointment in this verdict, and I still remember how the conductor knew this would happen and actually asked his son (a gifted musician) to play the violin before he broke the news.

The music was incredible - what a genius move.

And I had one of the most magical moments in my 20+ years of interaction with my Opa (German for grandfather). One that I remember until today. When we were leaving - I remember helping him back to the car, holding his hand. On the way, he stopped and asked me if I wanted to keep the violin.

Of course I did!

Today the violin is showcased in my living room and I get to appreciate its beauty every day.



And when I see it I remember the music being played with my grandfather by that conductor's son.

A Twitter thread I shared about why this is so important to me: