The signed baseball means family history to me and resale money to my cousin

My grandfather kept one signed baseball in a clear plastic cube on the bookshelf beside his recliner. I do not know whether the signature makes it valuable. To me, the important part is that he told the same story every time somebody noticed it.

He had taken my mother and uncle to a game when they were children. They waited near a railing afterward, and a player signed the ball. My mother remembered being tired. My uncle remembered dropping a soda. Granddad remembered the three of them laughing in the parking lot during a thunderstorm.

When he died, there was no detailed will for household objects. My aunt packed the baseball with family photographs and gave the box to my mother. It stayed at her house for years. After Mum downsized, I took it because I was the person still interested in the story.

My cousin recently saw the ball during a visit. He searched the signature online and believes it could be worth real money if authenticated. He says the ball belonged to our grandfather, then passed through his generation, so one branch of the family should not quietly keep the entire value.

I had never thought of it as an asset. I also cannot prove it was formally given to me. My mother says Granddad would have wanted someone who cared about baseball to keep it. My uncle says selling it and dividing the money would be cleaner than arguing over ownership.

The amount is uncertain. Authentication could show the signature is common, damaged, or not genuine. My cousin talks as if a sale price already exists. I am resisting even checking because turning the ball into a number feels like changing what it is.

That reaction may be sentimental and self-serving. It is easy to say an object should remain in the family when you are the family member holding it. I offered to have a display-quality photograph made and to write down Granddad’s story for everyone. My cousin said a photograph does not address shared property.

I do not want a sports collectible to damage relationships. I also do not want the fear of conflict to turn every inherited object into cash. Would you get it authenticated, offer to buy out whatever share relatives believe they have, rotate it among households, or refuse a sale unless everyone—including the person who preserved the story—agrees?