Georgia Accoutrement Set

By John Sexton · Originally published November 2016 · p. 23

Dear Civil War Appraiser: I would like an official description and appraisal of my Georgia belt buckle and its sword and belt. My father was presented with an opportunity to purchase it over the phone, sight unseen from an estate sale here in Atlanta some time before 1933. A long-time friend of our family who went to our church had a small antique shop, and would occasionally hold estate sales. She called my father and said she was setting up an estate sale for an elderly lady that had passed away. Our friend said that while she was going through the items, she had come across a sword that she was going to put out the next day for the estate sale. She said that it had been handed down in the family, and she wanted to know if my father would be interested in purchasing it instead of her including it in the sale. Initially my father declined, we were not collectors, just relic hunters. But she said that it was in good condition and the family was agreeable to selling it to him if he wanted it. But, she would only give my father that day to make the commitment to purchase the item. Otherwise, it would be put in the estate sale the next day. She described it to him over the phone, and he made some notes and told her that he would call someone to find out what would be a fair price to offer for the sword. He wanted to be fair. So he called you John, and l described it to you over the phone the best he could based on what she had told him over the phone. I still have that piece of paper with my father’s hand written notes that he made while talking to you. Since you had to give him an estimate without seeing it, you told him about $500.00 to $600.00 in average condition. He then called her back and said he would offer $600.00 for the sword and they accepted. Nothing was ever mentioned about a buckle being on it, and of course since my father had never in his life purchased a relic, it didn’t even cross his mind to ask about a buckle. He was just focused on offering a fair price for the sword. So that evening she stopped by the house to leave the sword and pick up the money. Later that evening as my father was looking at it and noticed the unusual buckle, he knew that it was like no buckle that we had ever dug up as relic hunters. We put the sword away, and for several years it stayed in the closet and we never thought anymore about it. So when the Antiques Road Show came to Atlanta in the late 1990’s, we decided to take the sword with its belt and buckle to the road show to get it appraised. After waiting in line for hours, we were surprised to get to the table and see you sitting behind the table as an appraiser. Again, not being collectors, we just always assumed that the sword was the valuable item, and the belt and buckle were secondary. We had the sword wrapped up in a black plastic garbage bag, and I remember when we took it out that the guy standing behind you, later you introduced him to me as Steve Mullinax (author of Confederate Belt Buckles and Plates), moved right in close over your shoulder and you both seemed rather excited. Since this was about 20 years ago, I can’t remember everything that you said, but I remember you wanted to put my father on the show, but he was too humble to do it. I also remember you telling me to take the buckle off the belt and keep it wrapped up separately. I asked you why, and you and Steve Mullinax kind of chuckled and said because the buckle was worth 10 times what the sword and belt were worth. So my father took it off the belt and wrapped it up in an old soft pillow case. He has since passed away. I still have the buckle and it is still wrapped in that old pillow case. Dear Bill: I am sorry to hear about your father’s passing, and I do remember your buckle. I forgot that Steve Mullinax (recently deceased), who was no doubt the authority on Confederate buckles, came to that same “Antiques Road Show” and ironically was at the table when you and your father came by. I sort of recall the story now of your father calling about the sword years earlier. The sword, which is a Model 1840 Ames Light Artillery Sabre, in the early 1990’s retailed for about $600 for a really nice example. By the early 2000’s, in the peak of the Civil War market, that same sword sold for about $1,000. Today, this same sword is $500600, about the same or less than your father, wanting to be so fair, paid for it over 20 years ago. It just goes to show you that offering a really fair price for an item sight unseen and doing a friend in church a favor can have rewards. The buckle, when you brought it to the road show, would have had a market value of about $15,000. At the peak of the Civil

War Market, this buckle could have brought $25,000-30,000. For purposes of scheduling for insurance replacement, I would still schedule in that range. I have little doubt the buckle will bring $15,000 or more in this current market. There are two very rare Confederate buckles being sold in public auction in Nashville, Tenn. on October 13th (Baldini Auction Company). The two buckles are both extremely rare provisional Confederate belt plates and once had market values over $50,000 each. This auction may give us a fair outlook as to the current value of your Georgia officer’s buckle, of which yours is the only non-excavated example and in very nice condition. Your buckle, at least an excavated version, is described and picture as Plate 251 in the Mullinax book, 1991, as having the highest rarity of 10. I can cite several buckles with this same rarity scale, and aesthetics that have sold at the prices noted here. Your sword, belt and buckle all appear to be original and as used. The sword is an early Ames contract from Mexican War era dated 1847, it has all the proper inspector’s marks and is about as good as you find them. The buff leather belt rig is complete and original. Paul Johnson, author, and expert on Civil War and Antebellum military leather, related in an email: “The full mark is “MADE BY / R. & H. A. DINGEE / NEW YORK” and was used on Robert Jr. and Henry Dingee 1844 contract. The father of the two (Robert Dingee) died in 1843, and the sons took over the business then. Robert died in 1851, so the mark dates from the 1840s to 1851. That matches both the artillery sword date and the Georgia waist belt plate with wire hooks. The wire hooks were replaced on Federal plates in 1844. It certainly is a beautiful rig.” Even a U.S. artillery rig with a standard U.S. oval buckle has a current market value of at least $2,500. Anyone interested in the buckle might wish to sell the sword rig, as most buckle collectors collect buckles. You stated you are trying to research the estate sale that your father purchased this and may have identified the family. It would be most interesting to see if we can locate an Antebellum, Georgia artillery officer among his ancestors. John is an certified appraiser with International Society of Appraisers specializing in Civil War memorabilia. He authenticates and evaluates other rare and valuable historic items also. Send “Ask The Appraiser” questions and photographs to [email protected].