Civil War bugle... NOT!

Ralph Heinz

Corporal
Joined
Feb 14, 2016
Location
Pacific Northwest
Yesterday on Ebay a bugle claimed by the seller as Civil War and Indian Wars sold for $172. A couple days ago I noticed that it had a place to "Be the first to write a review" so I did. I rated it NO three times and then gave an explanation that the brass bugle shown had a straight solder seam. It also had a circular straight solder seam a couple inches above the bell so that the bell could be made as a separate piece and could be attached which was patented by C.G. Cohn in 1889. I listed as a source the exc. article "Collecting Civil War Bugles" by Chris Nelson which appeared in North South Trader's Civil War in Vol. 29 No. 4/2003. I assumed this would appear on the Ebay page with the bogus bugle but it didn't.

Just this week I had to tell an old friend who plans to sell his entire cavalry collection through a major auction that his prized CW cavalry bugle had those same straight seams and a repro cord. He'd bought it years ago from a major dealer and it wasn't cheap. The photos he emailed me showed it was identical to the one just sold on Ebay. The friend has a large collection and a museum displaying his cavalry collection.

Anyone wanting to buy an authentic CW bugle should first order that particular 2003 magazine from the publisher and study it before spending a nickel. An authentic CW bugle will run in the neighborhood of $2,000 or more. For their $172 (plus shipping) someone got a bugle probably made in the 1890's and which was not a govt. issued bugle. After the CW, there were only three bugles approved by the US military: the M1879, M1892, and the M1894. Sears was selling bugles well into the early 1900's that were meant for civilians and possibly state militias.

There's a REASON that Lanyard Puller states "First Buy Books" -- doing so will save you a lot of money in the end.
 
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