Thread: To Restore or Leave Alone

Originally Posted by Tsunami

I bought this the other day. The seller said thus: "I purchased a group of Civil War items at auction recently, and this is part of that collection.

At every auction I've attended, the auction house will group items into lots when a consigner drops off many small items. My guess is that they put together similar vintage appearance things and then called it a "Civil War lot". They will justify that if there is one legit Civil War item like a mangled button or Minie ball in with the rest. Just part of the game and gaff for new auction goers.

Unfortunately, attribution is everything and without independent verification showing that razor was actually part of a soldier's kit, there is no history attached to it, just their story. (As an aside, the Civil War tale is rampant at gun shows and thrown out a lot to bump up values.) Regardless, your razor looks like a really nice one to me. I am new to this but that one would certainly go in my "keep" pile if I ended up with it.

I gave the scales a light sanding to clean the gunk off. It did enhance the mans name of Edwards

Cool! I have the exact same razor.I can see no differences between mine and yours.Except that my blade is not that shiny at all! I was thinking the scales on mine were horn,but wasn't sure.Maybe they are after all! I found mine at an antique mall for $15

Great buy! Yeah they are horn. It has quickly become one of my favorites