Stolen Civil War Relics - A Crisis?

[Terry Soloman]

RICHMOND, Va. A Civil War revolver that was stolen 35 years ago from the Museum of the Confederacy has turned up again. Collections Manager Catherine Wright tells CBS affiliate WTVR that the .36-caliber Spiller & Burr revolver was stolen in 1975 when the museum collection was moved to a new building. A woman in Knoxville, Tenn., discovered the gun in December in her late father's belongings. She tried to sell it to an Ohio antique dealer who traced the gun to the museum. WTVR reports that the woman's father collected Civil War items. It's not known how he came into possession of the gun. The woman will not face charges. Wright says the Spiller & Burr revolver was one of the first Confederate-manufactured handguns. This one has an estimated value of $50,000…

Authorities are searching for a thief who nabbed five Civil War-era objects from a display cabinet at Wilmington's Cape Fear Museum. The missing items were a U.S. Army oval brass belt buckle with "US" stamped on the face, a Confederate infantry brass button stamped with "I" on the face, a Confederate artillery brass button stamped with "A" on the face and two Confederate North Carolina brass buttons stamped with "NC" and a seven-point starburst pattern, according to a news release…

Authorities say about $2,000 worth of Civil War relics have been stolen from the Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg. The Vicksburg Post reports a cap and ball pistol, Union officer's belt buckle and Confederate money were among the items taken from the museum's gift shop this week. Museum director Bubba Bolm told police a man who visited the museum on Monday and Tuesday may have acted as a distraction while someone else stole the items...

PERRYVILLE – When James Pope first learned early Saturday morning that someone had broken into his business and cherry-picked his most valuable antique guns and coins, his blood was boiling. “I wished I could shoot them with one of those guns,” Pope said inside Merchants Row Cafe and Antiques, where about $15,000 worth of long rifles, pistols, rare coins, currency and other collectibles from the Civil War era had been stolen overnight. But as the morning and his initial rage passed, Pope gained a new perspective on crime and punishment. He still hopes the thief is caught and the merchandise returned, but he was feeling more Buddhist than vigilante. “I feel sorry him. Anyone who would steal from someone else, you know their life is miserable,” Pope said. “Karma will take care of it. It’s a setback, but life goes on. I know I’ll be OK.”…

Now comes news of a burglary in Annapolis last week in which an estimated $68,000 worth of Civil War memorabilia was stolen. According to police, someone slipped in through the victim’s sliding-glass door and made off with a briefcase of highly collectible Confederate items, including $52,000 in CSA certificates as well as highly collectible belt buckles, buttons, and tintype photographs worth an additional $16,000. Stolen between last Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening, this seems to have been a targeted theft as police report nothing else taken…

How do you know you are not buying stolen stuff at these CW shows?

 

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[Tnmountains]

Wow!!!!! Desperate times I guess. Anyone stole my collection would be very disappointed.

 

[callmez]

A whole lot of things can be stolen and resold, and I wonder if relics are really much different than any other objects in that regard. I will say this though, in dealing with a variety of historical museums large and small it seems that a LOT of smaller weapons have vanished from their collections over the years, and in my field (knives) I don't know of any that have ever turned up again. I suppose it is harder to control small objects as compared to say rifles, but if they were being stolen to re-sell why aren't they turning up in collections 20-30-40 years later?

This thread caught my attention as I have started writing a series on the more significant stolen knives for a collecting organization's publication. I kept running across more and more cases without even one being recovered and felt that -- with a little publicity -- maybe some of the missing items could be recovered. None yet, but I've got a bunch of them to write up yet.

 

[JimK]

How do you know you are not buying stolen stuff at these CW shows?

For me it is simple. If I don't dig it up, I don't need it

JimK

 

[Davers]

Wow!!!!! Desperate times I guess. Anyone stole my collection would be very disappointed.

I hear ya...LOL

 

[Davers]

A Quick rant "I hope"

These days 'I trust Nobody' or only a select few.

Tho one should not have to , the last case in Maryland The Man should have had his Relics locked up in a Safe....Also Were they insured?

It's Cool in the first case that the Gun was Recovered after some 39 years, Makes one Question the Mans Other Relics.

I guess one could photo each relic/Piece & note it Unique Marks. I plan to do this with certain pieces of mine (Tho they are worth maybe $100 or so bucks). For insurance purposes as well.

In many cases of stolen Small items , Knives, Coins Buttons , Even Buckles . The Police don't have the time or Money to do large scale searches for stolen items.
That puts to Owner or others in the hobby to get the Word & look out for certain pieces.
(as stated above by the Knife Guy)

In this world there will always be Thievery cause of the nature of people
As I said "One should not have to " but We need to keep all our Cherished Items Secure as we can.
( kinda like in the Movie Full Metal Jacket ; when "Pile" forgets to lock his Foot Locker, & the Gunny goes Off on Him.) .
Truly hope everybody get's their stuff back.