GUEST: I brought my great-great- grandfather's Confederate sword.
APPRAISER: And how do we know it's his sword?
GUEST: Well, it's engraved, it has his name on it. We also know because it's been passed down through the family with the stories associated with his having the sword. And also his beautiful wife, my great-great-grandmother, wrote about the time he spent during the war in some of the fighting around the city of Mobile.
APPRAISER: And on the blade we have beautifully etched, "Presented to..." your ancestor. It's beautifully done. Did you ever notice the other name that's on the sword?
GUEST: No, it's hard to read.
APPRAISER: If we turn the sword over, we have the mark of Bissonnet. He was an engraver, jeweler, and etched sword blades in Mobile. In this Confederate sword world, he's as good as they come.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: And he was amazing. In a time where most people put a little bit on it, he wasn't afraid to go all out. We've got this one and it says, "Presented to," and it's that big on the presentation. It goes all the way down the blade. It even mentions that it's given by folks in Mobile. This sword would have been made in Mobile, Alabama, and Mobile was one of the last places to fall in the Confederacy along the Gulf. The sword would've been made sometime before 1865. On the guard we have the standard cast brass guard with the floral design on it. But what's cool is if you turn it just right, we have C.S. applied. They cast the guard and then hand-applied those letters C.S. That's above and beyond in a war where necessity drove basically everything. The sword does have a few condition problems. The end of the blade is a little crusty, and we know why. It's because somewhere along the line we lost the top half of the scabbard.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: On the bright side, that can be addressed, that's not a killer. Because of who did it and the quality and care that was put into the sword during its manufacture, this is a sword that I would insure for $30,000.
GUEST: Seriously? $30,000? Oh, wow. We need to... I've had it hidden in the attic. I think I need to put it somewhere safer than that.
APPRAISER: I'd say.
