GUEST: This is a family piece. We've had it just since I can remember, and it's been passed down, we think, since late 1700s, maybe early 1800s. And the family story goes this was some kind of a front of, maybe, a military piece. It came from New York.
APPRAISER: It is a front plate, as you thought, for a militia cap.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So, it would be worn with a felt hat, and you could mount this... ...onto the hat right here. It would go right through the felt, and then this is for plume. But it's all japanned tin, black-painted tin. And on the front, we have this wonderful eagle. The sunburst, the clouds. All the paint is original, and a lot of these we see have been repainted. It's roughly 1820. Everybody had to be in the militia at the time.
GUEST: And this would be part of your uniform,
APPRAISER: to identify you as a member of the militia.
GUEST: I would say, at auction, I would put this in at $800 to $1,200.
APPRAISER: Oh, wow!
