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Appraisal Update | Cut Glass Centerpiece Base, ca. 1885

Extraordinary Finds | Hear More from Lowry About the Auction!

Extraordinary Finds | Hear More from Lowry About the Auction!

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Revolutionary War Small Sword & Belt, ca. 1740

Value (2016) | $2,000 Auction – $3,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
I brought in a sword that's been in my family since the Revolutionary War. It's been in our possession the whole time, and I don't really know too much about it, except that I know that it was at the retreat of the British from Concord and Lexington, and used at Bunker Hill as well.

APPRAISER:
And there's a name associated with it. This sword was owned by Colonel Winslow, and was given to Captain Farwell of Dunstable, Massachusetts.

GUEST:
Oh, right.

APPRAISER:
But research has shown that it's actually from Groton, Massachusetts.

GUEST:
Oh really?

APPRAISER:
The next town over.

GUEST:
Really?

APPRAISER:
Yes. So what we have here is what's called a small sword. So we've got a silver hilt in a steel blade. The counterguard is broken off here, but the proof marks that would've proven the country of origin would have been on that guard.

GUEST:
Oh, I see.

APPRAISER:
Probably English manufactured. Probably in the 1740s. If it was used at the Battle of Louisbourg, which is now Cape Breton Island, it would have been 1745, used at that time. So it's manufactured probably in England, a little earlier than that. However, with the loss of the counterguard and the touch marks, we can't say for sure. I've been studying the material culture related to April 19, 1775 for about 40 years. And this type of small sword is what we see in every identified case. So the belt you have here looks like it's a linen, possibly all linen or linen-wool mix. With a clasp, brass clasp here. It's missing a few pieces that the sword might have hung from. But it's still, considering the date and time that it's been around, it's still in pretty good condition.

GUEST:
Yeah, it's pretty old.

APPRAISER:
So Captain Farwell... actually his first name was Henry Farwell. There's some great information on him. He was there on the British retreat. He was also wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The ball went through his body and lodged in his spine, and had to be removed. He was in Colonel William Prescott's regiment. Colonel William Prescott, as you may know, was at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and was in command of a lot of the troops there. So it's a very interesting piece. Have you ever had it appraised before?

GUEST:
I've never had it appraised.

APPRAISER:
Okay, normally a sword in this condition would be in the $800 to $1,000 range.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
With the connections you have to Captain Henry Farwell, the April 19 history, the Bunker Hill history, I would say the combination of the small sword and the belt, at auction, would be $2,000 to $3,000.

GUEST:
Interesting.

APPRAISER:
Yeah. And it could... could do higher than that. There's a lot of collectors of April 19 and Bunker Hill that, you get two people that want it, it could go even higher than that.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Joel Bohy
Arms & Militaria
Bruneau & Co Auctioneers
Cranston, RI
Appraised value (2016)
$2,000 Auction – $3,000 Auction
Featured In
Salt Lake City, Hour 2 (#2111)
Event
Salt Lake City, UT (August 13, 2016)
Category
Arms & Militaria
Period
18th Century , Revolutionary War
Form
Belt , Sword
Material
Silver , Steel

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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