Powder horn

PClemente · 22nd March 2013, 12:09 AM

Hi All,
I have a quandary in regards to a engraved powder horn that once was in my possession. The powder horn itself probably dated to 18th or 19th century, but featured later engraving on the horn identifying its owner as a captain in the French & Indian War and bearing the Royal Coat of Arms and a cityscape. I obtained the piece years ago at a CT gun show for $200, and based on the too good to be true price suspected that it was one of the many altered old horns made to look like a F&I or Rev War example were produced years ago. Anyway everyone I took it to suspected its legitimacy and finally I sold it at auction through a well known West Coast auction house which confirmed my suspicions and sold it as an older horn with later engraving. I had pretty much forgotten the horn until within a month of the auction I saw a well known militaria dealer selling the SAME EXACT HORN as a totally authentic F & I powder horn for many thousands of dollars! I feel like I should contact him to remind him of the horn's true nature, but I would think he already knows of the suspicions that the horn is probably not totally authentic! So my quandary is should I leave it be and let buyer beware, or contact the dealer reminding him of the nature of the piece. I would hate to see an uninformed or novice collector pay a premium price for a spurious horn, but I would hope that most collectors know that they should be suspicious of such horns.
Thanks for your advice!

M ELEY · 22nd March 2013, 02:16 AM

If the dealer has been around awhile, there is no reason why he shouldn't already KNOW that the item has been altered. This is a common problem among dealers today when it comes to making the sale. I can understand the ones that sometimes slightly exaggerate an item or work up the history angle, but this sounds more like down-right deceit. If it bothers you, you have every right to contact the dealer and tenderly mention the item's true nature. I doubt it will do any good. Per forum rules, we don't mention names, but there are even larger, well-known dealers who will remain nameless that practice this shell game. I think as true collectors and appreciators of items, we just can't relate to these 'used car sale' tactics...

22nd March 2013, 12:09 AM	#1
PClemente Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 42	Powder horn Hi All, I have a quandary in regards to a engraved powder horn that once was in my possession. The powder horn itself probably dated to 18th or 19th century, but featured later engraving on the horn identifying its owner as a captain in the French & Indian War and bearing the Royal Coat of Arms and a cityscape. I obtained the piece years ago at a CT gun show for $200, and based on the too good to be true price suspected that it was one of the many altered old horns made to look like a F&I or Rev War example were produced years ago. Anyway everyone I took it to suspected its legitimacy and finally I sold it at auction through a well known West Coast auction house which confirmed my suspicions and sold it as an older horn with later engraving. I had pretty much forgotten the horn until within a month of the auction I saw a well known militaria dealer selling the SAME EXACT HORN as a totally authentic F & I powder horn for many thousands of dollars! I feel like I should contact him to remind him of the horn's true nature, but I would think he already knows of the suspicions that the horn is probably not totally authentic! So my quandary is should I leave it be and let buyer beware, or contact the dealer reminding him of the nature of the piece. I would hate to see an uninformed or novice collector pay a premium price for a spurious horn, but I would hope that most collectors know that they should be suspicious of such horns. Thanks for your advice!

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22nd March 2013, 02:16 AM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,066	If the dealer has been around awhile, there is no reason why he shouldn't already KNOW that the item has been altered. This is a common problem among dealers today when it comes to making the sale. I can understand the ones that sometimes slightly exaggerate an item or work up the history angle, but this sounds more like down-right deceit. If it bothers you, you have every right to contact the dealer and tenderly mention the item's true nature. I doubt it will do any good. Per forum rules, we don't mention names, but there are even larger, well-known dealers who will remain nameless that practice this shell game. I think as true collectors and appreciators of items, we just can't relate to these 'used car sale' tactics...