Thread: Amazing antique shop find!

Sorry in advance for my long post, but I am a little excited
My wife wanted to go shopping today for chairs that match our reclaimed wood table. I was not really looking forward to this, but figured maybe I would see something interesting at one of the shops...
I was chatting with a clerk at a shop, and noticed a wood box hiding on a shelf toward the bottom of a display below some cheesy knives and random knick knacks. I asked to see it, and then took a minute to recover from what I saw:

The top of the box has an engraved plate that says "SGT Thomas Wilson from the men of the Tenth 1895"
The razors are Joseph Rogers and Sons, with Ivory scales with metal liners (first time I have ever seen liners on a vintage straight!!) and what appears to be shell inlays. The only thing missing seems to be a pair of scissors, all the other tools are there!
Nothing appears to have ever been used, I was stunned. The lady asked me "so you like those?" I said "it is an interesting set." She said, "do you want me to call the owner and ask him how much?" I said that would be great. A couple minutes later the owner came over to see what I was looking at, and I asked him where he got it. He explained that he had just inherited the shop from his dad who died suddenly, and couldn't tell me where the set came from or anything about it. I will save you the rest of the exchange, but I probably paid too much ($500) because it was difficult to hide my excitement. I debated inwardly a couple of times, but I knew that I was walking out with that set!
If you have more info on these razors or this set (maybe it was sold as a gift pack and they are common??) please chime in! Thanks for reading through my long post

Here is a picture of the liners:

Splendid set!

Find of the year, thanks for sharing...

I don't gasp often on seeing new things. But this took my breath away. Just based on what I see and the price you paid I'd say you stole it for that price. Congrats on a fine find.

Wow, amazing set. I think you did very well for the price, I don't see any honing marks on them at all. Thanks for posting this.

All I can say Beautiful. My keyboard is wet from drool. Well done.

It appears that the dedication plaque on the outside of the wooden case was not installed where the case was assembled.
This looks like a very high tone set to be given to a Sergeant. But I guess 'the men of the Tenth means everyone above and below him in rank. This comes back to the plaque. Compared to the general refinement of the case and its contents the plaque looks almost field installed. I noticed there is some difficulty finding information about non commissioned officers. This is a fascinating mystery. Good Luck on your research Ernie1980.

I have been researching, and there are several people by the name of Thomas Wilson that were in the armed services/politics at that time. I found a possible match with a senator that was elected in 1895 that was formerly in the army, but I need to get a full copy of the book to make sure