The price of rare items

The fundraiser held last Saturday had a rare item for auction, a signed first edition of the Peace of the Two Swords, in which our beloved Empress lays out her doctrine. It would have been a nice item for our library, but I grossly underestimated the value of such items.

One and a half billion isk.

I considered if I could ever loan that amount (and pay it back if I got a loan that big). Probably not. I am keeping my funds to a minimum in accordance with my vow of poverty - to keep only what I need for my quest. So, prize money and other additional income goes into the skillbook fund, which is fairly well used, even new members are aware of it. 

But perhaps I should rethink my strategy. If I am to obtain relics by buying them from wealthy collectors, I should start a special fund for that too: the relic buyback fund. Just like the skillbook fund, I should open this us to all our corp members, in case they encounter a relic and want to bring it back to the empire. I'll have to emphasize they cannot keep the item, but should return it to the theology council in Amarr...