Or...And this is something I've been wanting for a while...You get one set of good (not ornate or whatever, but good) armor with your family. When you create a character, you can choose whether they get the family heirloom armor (if not already bestowed), and if not, you get the cheap armor. So then you have the fun of, say, wars not only being fought because Duke Fancypants lost his ornate 10K gold armor, but because Sir Awful Good the Kind's family armor was stolen by Judge Cackle and Snatch.
This could actually be accomplished with the unique items system. Allow players to create a family armour for lots and lots of gold.
