The amount Monroe paid for his Loar wasn't out of line with what a used Loar cost in 1943. Obviously Monroe couldn't turn Loars into priceless collectible holy grails before he owned one.
Antique dealers and pawnbrokers sell old items for a living. They have an opportunity to do their research before they put an instrument out on the floor with a price tag on it. Getting a "steal" in one of those places is not remotely the same as abusing the trust of someone you know in order to profit from it.
I did pretty well on a mandocello flip recently, but I bought it in an estate auction in a fair bidding process. Anyone who wanted to could have outbid me.
The OP is evidently a beginning mandolin player from Canton, OH, whose other posts in this forum concern the comparative merits of Gold Tones and Kentuckys, et al. Obviously he's not qualified to help his "friend" get a fair price for a vintage Gibson K4, nor does he seem interested in doing so. But once in a while, a feller gets lucky. If he does realize a profit here, I hope he uses it to do some good in the world.
I do feel sorry for the poor chump who inherited the K4. He's been steered wrong twice.
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