Page 40 - JOA-Oct-21

by John Sexton

Q: Please note – The owner sent photos but no other information. revolver sells for over $20,000. Copies start life as $200 reproductions
before being artificially aged and altered.
JS: This brass frame revolver is not Confederate. It is most likely fairly
modern. Good reproduction brass frame copies of Griswold revolvers
were imported, starting about 1970, and I see more fake CS revolvers
than original examples.
I wrote an article on Griswold revolvers that was published January
2019 in Arms Heritage Magazine showing characteristics of original A reproduction Griswold revolver, about $200.
Authentic Griswolds are about $20,000.
examples. An average, original, complete, and original Griswold

Q: John, I recently acquired a Confederate staff and field officer’s sword JS: Very neat find for sure. Your hilt is of a pattern that is copied from the
guard that was dug when an old house’s foundation was being redone. The US model 1850 staff and field officer’s sword. That was the regulation pat-
guard was found beneath a house that was built between 1900 and 1910 tern for staff at the beginning of the Civil War. Conning in Mobile prob-
in Conecuh County, Alabama, which is located in the southern part of the ably made the first Confederate swords of this version. Conning was a deal-
State. I have been told that it is a Leech and Rigdon staff and field officer’s er for Ames who made these for both government and private purchase.
sword guard. Please let me know your opinion of the guard, and is there a way There is a Conning pattern which is an altered Ames 1850, changing
to definitively determine the “U” to a “C” in the hilt and removing the U.S. patriotic-etched
whether it was made by Leech panels and replacing them with Confederate panels. In addition to
and Rigdon? Conning, Boyle & Gamble of Richmond, College Hill of Nashville, and
I greatly appreciate your Leech & Rigdon in Columbus, Mississippi, also made the pattern.
opinion and thank you for your Based on hilts I have detailed photos of, I can rule out Leech as being
time in looking at the photos. the manufacturer. Conning appears to be the most likely choice as the
several casting features appear closer to Conning, but all makers of this
A sword hilt probably made by hilt shared the same pattern and are all very close.
Conning, Boyle & Gamble, Congratulations on a cool relic. Value on the hilt should be $1,000-
$1,000-$1,500 in value. $1,500 in my opinion.

Q: I’m checking to see if this is real or fake. I found it in the attic
when I purchased my home.

JS: Your satchel is indeed original. It is a Civil War surplus pistol
cartridge box. This was the box issued to cavalrymen to hold
packs of .44 cartridges and caps for Colt or Remington Army
revolvers. Several hundred thousand were made by various
contractors. The inspector’s markings are visible on the front
flap. The small lead-filled box plate is unusual to see on these
boxes as most did not have them.
Average boxes without plates sell for about $150 in the Civil
War market; this one with a plate would cost you about $250 A Civil War pistol The lead-filled US plate The satchel opened with
at a Civil War show. cartridge box / satchel, $250 on the satchel. the flap up.

Q: I am hoping you JS: There are lots of reproductions. The hooks on the back of one appear
can tell me if this to be brass, which is not correct, and the lead appears over poured, so most
metal breast plate is likely a reproduction.
authentic or a really The Civil War eagle breast plate with rusted loops appears original. I
good reproduction. can’t make out the name on the back, but as is, a similar example at a show
I am hoping it is or auction could be found for about $150.
original, with a bad
repair? Thanks in Left, the back of the real eagle breast plate
advance.
A reproduction eagle breast plate (l) and a real plate (r), worth about $150. Notice the Right, the back of the reproduction
differences between the two: the repro has eight feathers on the bottom of the left wing, where the metal has been overpoured
and the real one has seven. Also, the branches of the leaves in the left talon are different. onto the casting

John Sexton is an independent appraiser and expert of Civil War memorabilia. He is an accredited member of various appraiser
organizations. He can be contacted at 770-329-4984. If you have a Civil War item for him to appraise, email a photo and a
description to mclwriter@gmail.com.

38 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles