GUEST
I brought in a collection of Civil War memorabilia that belonged to my great-great-grandfather. I know he fought at the Battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Vicksburg. So to me it seems like something you would keep your materials in, maybe your field notes, something like that.
APPRAISER
Did he serve after 1863, the Battle of Vicksburg?
GUEST
He was captured by the Union, and then released and paroled to go home. So he walked home from Mississippi back to Texas, and then I think he re-enlisted back into the army. And I think he fought until the end, but he stayed in Texas.
APPRAISER
What part of Texas?
GUEST
He's from Houston, Texas.
APPRAISER
Well, have you ever been on Travis Street in Houston?
GUEST
Downtown, yeah.
APPRAISER
Well, during the Civil War, there were two buildings on Travis Street that were leased to the ordnance department.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
And they produced leather goods.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
They're one of the rarest of all Confederate leather goods.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
This is actually for holding cartridges. This one is what is referred to by collectors as a Houston depot. It is a copy of the Union cartridge boxes of the day. There are several things that we look for that let us know it's Confederate rather than Union, if you don't have this big bold "CS" on the outside cover. If we open up the flap, we notice on the bottom of the box, we have a finial. And the finial's made of lead.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
Almost all of the Union finials are made of brass. And most of the time that little leather tab that goes over it is broken off, so it's wonderful that we do have that. Now for the elephant in the room. We have the huge "CS" lettering.
GUEST
Right.
APPRAISER
It's the most vividly clear and beautiful stamping that they ever used. This one's a little hazy, but that just happens because every strike isn't perfect.
GUEST
Right.
APPRAISER
In the middle, it would have said, "Texas, 1864."
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
Which is why I asked you when he went home. So that lets us know that this is the one that he used when he got released and sent back home.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
It's a fantastic box. When I opened it up to show one of our producers, I saw a piece of paper. It's actually a label for Enfield rifle cartridges. And that one little bit of paper lets us know what he was using with his musket, which is interesting, because the Enfield is an English-made gun. The musket would have been a.577 caliber. And it's just a wonderful little addition, an unexpected surprise when we opened that up.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
If this was a standard Union cartridge box, its counterpart, it would probably be worth between $300 and $500.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
This one is a whole different critter.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
This one today would retail for about $25,000.
GUEST
Oh, my gosh. Wow. Wow, that's amazing. I don't think the family had any idea. I mean, amongst all the things that we had, I don't think we understood the value of this item. Wow.
APPRAISER
Before today, the collectors' market knew of four of these.
GUEST
Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER
You've got the fifth.
GUEST
Oh, my gosh. Wow. Whew! That is... yeah, that's amazing. That's great. (chuckling) Holy cow!
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