I buy my relics based on condition, rarely on where they are from or who used them.  Most collectors love identified items, and with good reason. It is great to know who carried the item in the Civil War, and it is a guarantee that an identified item will have a higher retail price.  Why am I different?  Not a big deal, really, I just focus on the actual item and whether it speaks to me as a collector.  Now I'm not stupid.  If an item belonged to Lee or Longstreet, I'd want it like everyone else, but I buy relics based on how I feel about the actual relic itself, not who owned it.  You are probably asking yourself at this point, "Who cares???  Who cares what YOU like?"  Well there is a point coming.  The point is, that my reasons for not buying on provenance is because a lot of the provenance on items is just plain FALSE.

The sellers of fake and fantasy Civil War relics on e-bay are noted for attaching false provenance to an item they sell to garner a higher profit.  "Found in a Barn," "From an estate sale," "Dug at Gettysburg," are lines in descriptions to watch out for.  I have seen Confederate belt buckles sold by sellers as legitimate dug buckles recovered from a major battlefield like Antietam, and the buckles are reproductions artifically aged.  How can I be sure?  I know the gentleman that made them.  I can take ANY dug artifact and tell you it came from ANYWHERE and there is no way you can prove me wrong.  You are trusting me to be honest.

This is a beautiful dug boxplate.  Retail is $200 to $225 on

condition alone.  If I say it was recovered in Gettysburg, I can tack on at LEAST

another $100, maybe more.

GET YOUR PROVENANCE IN WRITING!  Real ID'd items come with real provenance.  If an item is ID'd to a soldier, provenance should include his service history, pension records, letters from the family, photos, bank statements, family bibles, marriage certificates, etc... Gathering this information is time-consuming, and most sellers of fake relics won't do the work because it is too much like work.  Reputable dealers will have this information, or will have access to it.  I'm not saying you need all of that for a $200 cabinet card, but you might want it for a $6,000 presentation sword, or a uniform.  Provenance also includes receipts or contact information of who it was purchased from and when.  Anyone that balks at telling you where they got an item MAY have something to hide.  Again, reputable dealers have no issues in giving that information out.  It is part of a relic's pedigree. 

Watch out for sellers that try to sell by association.  You will sometimes see images of what are actually just Civil War era civilians with a seller's story of how it is really General Grant, Lincoln, the James Gang, Lt. Dixon of the Hunley, etc... This is a well-known scam that e-bay is cracking down on, but sometimes slips through.  If a seller is selling a Civil War relic, but they try to associate the relic with a famous Civil War personage, or just come right out and say it was owned by that famous personage......BEWARE!!!  Get opinions from REAL experts.  This is a dangerous scam, because the actual relic is NOT a fake but a real relic.  It is the PROVENANCE or STORY that is 100% BS.  Go through a seller's feedback as far back as you can to see if he bought the item from another e-bay seller, then added his own "history" to it to up the value. A seller's Feedback tells a story.  Less than 98% throws up red flags like the bull fights in Madrid.

Get guarantees IN WRITING from any seller to back provenance.  If a seller has a letter from "An Expert" that he is selling with the item, research the "expert."  If you see a seller with a provenance letter from a Eric Poopendorf of Butterfields, CALL BUTTERFIELDS!  See if the guy exists, and see if he knows your seller.  Beware of the seller giving you a cell phone number of his "expert."  This could be him, his best friend, his brother, etc...Ask for an office address (not a P.O. Box), and an office phone number.  These can both be verified.  A cell number is hard to verify.  DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR THESE THINGS!!!!!!!!  Remember, you are spending YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY!!!!!  You are not doing the seller a favor.  If he is not compliant, then DON'T BID!!!  Evasive responses, or verbal guarantees are worth as much as melted snow, NOTHING.  GET EVERYTHING INCLUDING HIS RETURN POLICY AND HIS CONTACT INFORMATION IN WRITING!!  DEMAND A STREET ADDRESS ALONG WITH A P.O. BOX.  I ALWAYS PROVIDE MINE.

Look, in the end, caution saves you money.  There is no deal that cannot be passed up no matter how good it looks.  Collecting is fun, but so is sex and both require a good deal of thought and protection.  No one wants a collection of fakes, or a collection of generic relics with false provenances.  Be aware, and be smart.  Do your research on the internet.  Go to the American Relic Hunters website and enter their e-bay Fakes Forum.  Put FAKE CIVIL WAR RELICS into a website and see the results.  You will be surprised how much is out there.  Some of those fakers have even posted guides on e-bay themselves in an attempt to defend their nefarious actions.  Their guides tend to be like their item descriptions, short and full of BS.  There are many websites and groups devoted to exposing fakes and fake sellers.  Utilize them, and always keep your eyes open, and one hand on your wallet.