1885 Civil War Reunion Posters

Appraised on: July 9, 2011

Appraised in: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Appraised by: Nicholas Lowry

Category: Prints & Posters

Episode Info: Junk in the Trunk 2 (#1621)

Originally Aired: November 5, 2012

IMAGE: 1 of 5  

Appraisal Video: (1:00)

GUEST: I got them at an antique mall over in Minneapolis.

APPRAISER: They're both from 1885. They were printed by the Strobridge Lithography Company, who are universally considered to be the greatest American lithograph company that ever worked. And 1885 is really early for high-quality, detailed American lithographs like these. This was also very early for Civil War reunions to happen, and it was extremely unusual to have both the North and the South coming together at the same time. I've never seen these before; they're incredibly rare. How much did you pay for them?

GUEST: $150 each.

APPRAISER: $150 each, and they were mounted on linen?

GUEST: I did that to protect them.

APPRAISER: Okay, so you put a little more money into them after that.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: Not only do they have the Civil War interest, but they're also going to be of interest to people who collect early American lithography. I feel that at auction, each of these would fetch between $3,000 and $4,000 apiece.

GUEST: Oh, thank you, thank you. That's actually a surprise; thank you.