Antiques Roadshow; Appraisal

My wife inherited as Stuart A few years back from a relative in Pennsylvania I believe and we understand that this is a sword that was worn by a predator soldier one of my wife's ancestors who actually fought and died at Vicksburg. As far as we know and it is your assumption that this is a Confederate made product. Absolutely I believe so. But that's something I can confirm for you. This is definitely a confederate made sword. It's what we call a foot off the sword. One of the ways that we know that it's Confederate is if we turn it. We're going to see it right here. The letters C S. And that is for Confederate States. This particular sword was actually manufactured. More than likely in Memphis probably in 61 or 62 by a company by the name of Legion Reg. And. They made swords. For the government they made swords for private individuals. There are hints like this that are made in Mobile Alabama. They're very similar. So we have to ascertain what makes this Legion regnant. Well if you go here on the scabbard you'll notice that there are no little number stamped on it anywhere. Most of the mobile made swords will have numbers on them. The way that this blade is that I'm not sure that you know that it is it should go. It's very very hard to see but starting here at the top and going down about

three quarters of the way are floral motifs. And then here in the middle there's a little arrow and a star. And this is very typical of the work of Legion regulars. If we turn the sword over we're going to see that the counter side. Is also etched in a similar manner with floral work beginning at the top and going to the end. Now it is very hard to see the setting but this is something that could be fixed or you could see it better. That would need to be done. By a professional. Course. This particular sword is also faked quite a bit. They've been faking it from the 50s and some of them are fairly sophisticated. One of the ways that we can ascertain that this sword is in fact genuine. Is by the way the casting is done in the hilt. If you look here in this floor we're. Very small but you can see it there's little bits of debris. And then it's been gold washed over the top. All this bits of debris is what tells us that it's original. On the reproductions. Most of the time that's buffed out. Another thing that we can see is where this sea in the SS This is been finished out. With a little file.

To bring the high points up. That's never done on the face. So we know it's absolutely original. Now all these little nicks that are in the blade you would like to think oh this is some type of battle damage but more than likely that's not true. Probably sometime around the turn of the century a child played with it and maybe hit with another sword. While this is a weapon. It's not really meant to be used as as a combat whether it's meant to be used to move troops. Or troop movement. It can be used as an object for fighting but it's not its real intention. These necks are not deep so it's not going to really affect the value. It's very important to have the original scabbard that adds a tremendous amount to the value. It's very important that it's etched. That adds a great deal to the value. If you take into the account that the grip in the wire is perfect and it's a product of a known maker. I think in a retail situation the sword would probably be valued at around twelve thousand dollars on. It so it is a rare Confederate sword. Wonderful. Love it.