Alamo powder horn

[Ralph Heinz]

With a long discussion of real or bogus markings on CW era firearms that keeps getting longer, I thought this item would "take the cake." One of eBay's premiere dealers yesterday sold a tiny crude powder horn that looked to me like something a young boy had made years ago. It was very small and had "Texas 1834" carved into it which the seller listed in its description. Above that and clearly visible in the photos was another carved inscription: "Col. J. Bowie."

It got a lot of bids and sold for $348. I'd happily post photos of it but would probably be infringing on copyrights as they are not my photos. Some of you know who that dealer is. It wasn't described in any way to suggest it wasn't real so "let the buyer beware" but clearly buyers are not being beware. Can it get any worse?
When P. T. Barnum said "You can fool some of the people all of the time" he was dead on. There are a lot of "Confederate Bowies" for sale there and elsewhere and they all sell as starting bids should reveal to the potential buyer that they are not considered to be real. The same goes for Confederate belt buckles from one dealer whose business is a casting foundry! They often start at $5o and sell for a couple hundred dollars each. They are always heavily patinaed and look like they were dug specimens. The only specimens these buckles are is specimens of recently cast buckles buried in a barnyard full of urine and dung. They keep selling however with a new batch every month clearly not described as originals but rather "it's just a beautiful buckle."

Perhaps I should carve "Alamo" into the stock of a WWII Japanese Arisaka or "Col. Jim Bowie" into the stock of an Italian Carcano just to see how much they would sell for. Have we become a nation of fools?

 

[JAGwinn]

Perhaps you've heard about 'the dumbing of America' over the last 30 years.

 

[ikesdad]

Barnum also said that there is a sucker born every minute, did he not ?

 

[Ralph Heinz]

Come to think of it but I have a K98k Mauser that Chamberlin carried at Little Round Top. Wonder how much I could get for it? He did carve his name in the stock and he was later awarded the Ritter Kreuz or was it the CMH?

 

[ikesdad]

Neither, it was the Honoris Crux.

 

[UCVRelics]

Perhaps I should carve "Alamo"

I know you are better than that.

 

[gary]

You'd have to get it down to Mexico to make it authentic. Trophy of war type biz. Might as well carve "D. Crockett" on it too.

 

[Jimklag]

"You can fool some of the people all of the time"

Lincoln, not Barnum.

 

[JAGwinn]

Lincoln, not Barnum.

Lincoln said that in Clinton, Illinois, 15 miles from Bloomington.

 

[Jimklag]

Lincoln said that in Clinton, Illinois, 15 miles from Bloomington.

Indeed. And that is only one third of the quote.

 

[Ralph Heinz]

Thank you -- I stand corrected. Actually, I thought it was the slogan of many of our senators and representatives today not to mention the White House.

 

[JAGwinn]

Lincoln did not fully adapt it as a method of operation....that was left for a later time!

 

[kevikens]

I have a Roman coin I think I would like to sell and I know it's a real coin of Julius Caesar because it is dated, 44 BC on the reverse, just below the Constantinople mint mark.