♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Major funding is provided by Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles.

Online and in-person gallery auctions every month.

Serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book-selling.

PATRICK REDDING: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

ED MORENO: This is truly a magnificent piece.

Thank you for bringing it to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

Can you tell me a little bit about this piece?

AMORY LeCUYER: It's a one-of-a-kind.

I don't think any of us have ever seen one of these in 15 or more years of doing this show.

GUEST: I have brought three sets of manumission papers, which are the papers that enslaved people received when they were freed.

ROSS KELBAUGH: Now, anything that Kennedy autographed is always of interest, note, uh, and of study.

REDDING: What you brought in today is a Winchester Model 1873 Deluxe.

It also was known as, "The Gun that Won the West."

(Theme music plays).

(Overlapping chatter).

ZACHARY GREEN: Thank you so much for coming to Chesapeake Collectibles.

What did you bring for us today?

GUEST: I have brought three sets of manumission papers, which are the papers that enslaved people received when they were freed.

GREEN: Yeah.

GUEST: And all three of these women entered the Oblate Sisters of Providence, so they are in our archives.

GREEN: And can you, uh, can you just explain really briefly who the Oblate Sisters are?

GUEST: Sure.

The Oblate Sisters of Providence are the oldest religious community in the United States for women of color.

They were founded in 1829 by Mary Lange, who was an immigrant from Cuba.

GREEN: Wonderful.

And so the three manumission documents we have here today are dated 1830, 1832, and 1849.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GREEN: Right over here we have a biography by the sisters with a photograph of one of members, uh, one of the sisters.

Um, over here, these two items we have are the actual deeds of manumission that certify that, yes, these women are being freed.

Um, we have right here, these two items are the actual certificates that they would've carried around with them... GUEST: Mm-hmm GREEN: ...that they could show to the military, to officials, um, that, that would say, "Yes, I am no longer enslaved.

I am a free woman."

Now, they also, I want to point out, do not have photographs because at the time these documents didn't have that.

GUEST: Right.

GREEN: Instead, what they had were physical descriptions of the person.

Um, the same thing of passports at the time.

And they would say, "This woman going by this name has this color skin, these eyes, this type of hair."

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GREEN: For people who were freed, they would also include any noticeable scarring.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GREEN: Um, any, you know, missing fingers or limbs, scars, especially to the face, but also to the body, so that they could prove that they weren't, you know, taken from someone else.

GUEST: Right.

GREEN: They were specific to the person carrying them.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GREEN: It's worth noting also that at the time period, of the 40 sisters, right, who joined in the antebellum period between 1828 and the beginning of the Civil War, um, 20% of them were freed women of color.

GUEST: Okay.

GREEN: There was a acceptance of sisterhood going on within the community.

GUEST: Right.

GREEN: One of these women was enslaved by, um, the Carroll family... GUEST: Mm-hmm GREEN: ...who were the signers of the Declaration... GUEST: Mm-hmm GREEN: ...and the big landowners.

We don't know why they gave her a freedom manumission.

The sisters, I also believe, do a lot of education in the area, correct?

GUEST: Yes.

GREEN: And so at the time, you know, they were helping these women who were, who were freed become more educated members of society.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GREEN: I also want to note out specifically that we have a couple of early photographs.

Photographs of that time period were usually reserved for people of some means.

GUEST: Hmm.

GREEN: It's worth noting that the sisters decided to have some photographs done.

Photographs of the antebellum period of women of color, especially free women of color, are fairly, um, desirable in the marketplace because they show a snapshot of America that wasn't as well documented in the time... GUEST: Mm-hmm GREEN: ...as we now wish it was.

So this isn't something the sisters will want to, will want to sell.

This is something you want to keep in your archives for historical purposes.

GUEST: Absolutely.

So we're going to approach this from an insurance perspective.

Right?

What would you want to think about if you needed to let an insurance company know what you have?

And from that perspective, uh, these three alone, not counting whatever else is in the archive, I would appraise for insurance for a minimum of $16,000.

GUEST: Okay.

Wow.

GREEN: Between who they were, the contemporariness of the founding... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GREEN: ...the importance of that early time period, and the scarcity of these on the markets... GUEST: Right.

GREEN: ...they really have a very important piece in the... Maryland and in Baltimore specific history.

GUEST: Right.

GREEN: Thank you so much for coming in.

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

(Cash register bell rings).

(Overlapping chatter).

MORENO: This is truly a magnificent piece.

Thank you for bringing it to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

Can you tell me a little bit about this piece?

GUEST: Yes, um, this is a punch bowl that was given to my great-great-grandfather- MORENO: Mm-hmm GUEST: ...in 1875.

MORENO: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: He was from Washington DC, fifth generation from my family, and it was a gift that was given to him when he had social events over in his farm, that he invited distinguished guests from Washington.

MORENO: So he was a well-connected socialite.

GUEST: Yes, he was.

MORENO: Okay.

GUEST: And he had many people invited, 100 to 200, to his farm.

He had 100 acres, and it was called Tunlaw Farm.

MORENO: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: Now called Wesley Heights.

At the time, Tunlaw Farm had a lot of walnuts.

And this one magnificent walnut that was 900 years old, they said, had a gigantic shade of 150 feet.

MORENO: Wow.

GUEST: And it had a circumference of the trunk about 21 feet around.

MORENO: Right.

GUEST: And its guests that would gather underneath the tree... MORENO: Mm-hmm GUEST: ...to stay cool, they were distinguished men telling stories about the Civil War.

MORENO: And in fact, we have a photograph here.

GUEST: Yes.

MORENO: And included in this photograph is President... GUEST: President Grant.

MORENO: ...Grant, so... GUEST: And his cabinet members.

MORENO: Okay.

This was a present sterling silver punch bowl.

It's about 200 ounces of silver.

It holds about 11 quarts... GUEST: Mm-hmm MORENO: ...of spirits, shall we say.

GUEST: Yes.

Yes.

MORENO: It is an incredible, incredible piece.

And in fact, in the front you can see a reproduction of, of the walnut tree.

The ladles marked H. Simpkin, and actually, we found a mark here on the bowl as well, on the punch bowl as well.

Um, Henry Kate was a German, came to the States in, uh, 1825.

He died in 1895... GUEST: Okay.

MORENO: ...falling down the stairs.

So... GUEST: Oh, no.

MORENO: ...but he had a long history.

He worked in Baltimore, also in Washington DC.

It was originally gilt on the inside.

You've lost a little bit of the gilding, but that's only normal.

GUEST: Okay.

MORENO: This would've been an extremely expensive presentation piece at the time, and I think it just shows how high esteem... GUEST: Oh.

MORENO: ...your ancestor was... GUEST: Okay.

MORENO: ...It has all of the kind of classical ornamentation.

A lot of this, including the walnuts, actually unscrew.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

MORENO: There was gilding on some of these pieces that you've lost a little bit of that as well.

GUEST: Yeah.

MORENO: But the work, the workmanship, the flat chasing, the handles that are wonderfully cast, reticulated, rusticated handles.

Just the whole piece is just a tour de force.

GUEST: Oh, thank you.

MORENO: I love it, I love it.

We've not seen anything quite as fantastic in a long, long time.

Um, any ideas?

Have you had it appraised ever in the future?

GUEST: Never had it appraised.

We'll just keep it in our family, but it would be interesting to know.

MORENO: Well, it might surprise you.

I really think that at auction this would bring $30,000, maybe a little bit more.

GUEST: Oh.

MORENO: It really is of the quality of a museum quality piece, and it is a fabulous piece.

Thank you for bringing it.

It made my day, so.

GUEST: Oh, thank you so much.

(Cash register bell dings).

(overlapping chatter).

KELBAUGH: What did you bring?

GUEST: Sir, I brought some items from Havre de Grace.

Uh, when Mayor McElhenny was mayor back in 1960, um, he presented a key to Senator Kennedy, uh, up in Havre de Grace.

Senator Kennedy come through town, and they presented the key to him.

We have a picture that was autographed by Senator Kennedy and given to the McElhenny family, and then a newspaper that came out in 1980 that commemorated his, his death, and it talked about that.

And I got these from Annie McElhenny, who is the granddaughter of Walter McElhenny, the mayor.

KELBAUGH: Very interesting artifact.

Uh, I would love to be able to see the lock that that key happened to fit into.

GUEST: I think a lot of times they lock the city up because a lot of people don't come in on weekends sometimes.

KELBAUGH: Okay.

It was presented to Kennedy.

GUEST: Yes, sir.

KELBAUGH: Then how did it end up back with the mayor?

GUEST: President Kennedy sent it back and gave it back to the city of Havre de Grace.

KELBAUGH: I was particularly interested in the photograph... GUEST: Mm-hmm KELBAUGH: ...that you all had of the mayor presenting the key to Kennedy, and that he had autographed it specifically to the mayor.

GUEST: Yes, sir.

KELBAUGH: Now that photograph would've been taken then and would have been autographed later.

GUEST: Yes, sir.

KELBAUGH: Now, anything that Kennedy autographed is always of interest, note, uh, and of study because Kennedy actually had a close friend, Larry Angel, who signed a lot of things for Kennedy.

GUEST: Okay.

KELBAUGH: But from what I have seen in Kennedy autographs, it certainly looks like it's his signature.

And when our home viewers look at it, you can see he had a very interesting handwriting.

If this was something for a collector and anybody, in fact, whoever gets anything that has been signed by Kennedy, it would be imperative for them to have it authenticated.

And there are several resources that people you can pay that they can authenticate... GUEST: Okay, sir.

KELBAUGH: ...his, his autograph.

But since this is something that's part of the town history, I'm sure the importance of whether or not if he actually wrote it and scribbled it and all that is, uh, true.

But just for our home viewers to know, they come across something, to be wary of a Kennedy autograph.

GUEST: Yeah.

KELBAUGH: Obviously, has this ever been appraised?

GUEST: No, sir.

It's never been out of the McElhaney family until they gave it to me to display in my Havre de Grace History Museum.

KELBAUGH: Well, I would put at least a valuation of $5,000.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

That's... KELBAUGH: On this group, $5,000 or more.

GUEST: That's awesome.

KELBAUGH: Kennedy-related artifacts are still incredibly in demand.

GUEST: Yeah.

KELBAUGH: So, and then to have something that was part of the social scene in his pre-running for president makes it a pretty important item.

GUEST: Well, thank you, sir.

KELBAUGH: So I want to thank, thank you for bringing it in and being able to share it... GUEST: Yes.

KELBAUGH: ...with us here on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: I appreciate that, sir.

Thank you very much.

(Cash register bell rings).

(overlapping chatter).

LeCUYER: You know, you could attach... -They're machete type of style.

You know what I mean?

LeCUYER: I want to thank you for coming out to "Chesapeake Collectibles" today.

And, and when this came to my table, another appraiser had brought it over and asked me to take a look at it and do it.

And I love the piece, and we're going to talk a little bit about that, but I love the story that I want you to tell me now.

Where did this come from?

GUEST: So, four generations lived in the family house.

LeCUYER: Okay.

Which is where?

GUEST: In Linthicum, Maryland.

LeCUYER: Okay.

In Maryland.

GUEST: Yes.

LeCUYER: Okay.

GUEST: So after my mom went to the retirement center, my job was to clean the house out.

LeCUYER: Okay.

GUEST: So up in the crawl space, many boxes, many things, and these were in the crawl space.

LeCUYER: And we'll talk a little bit about that, but also how did it come to be in a crawl space, which is absolutely the single worst place to store anything?

Um, because the crawl space, attics, things like that, you know, in the summertime, they get to be 140 degrees.

I mean, if you want to take a nice thing and a nice piece of furniture or something like that and stick it in your oven, you would have better outcome than putting it into an attic for decades.

This is a sample, a salesman sample, from the Heywood, Strasser, and Voigt Company of New York.

They were a lithographic printer... GUEST: Hmm LeCUYER: ...in the late 1800s, early 1900s.

Probably up, I think they corporately existed until probably the 1930s.

GUEST: Okay.

LeCUYER: But this is what would be either brought out by a salesman taking orders or sent to a store that they could, they could order.

You've had the kids coming around selling Christmas wrapping paper.

GUEST: Right.

LeCUYER: Same deal.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LeCUYER: Different generation.

And it's lovely that you have this.

The cover on it is in very poor condition.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LeCUYER: We've got a lot of tears, the binding's coming across.

But what is amazing is when you open it up and this blast of color... GUEST: Yes.

LeCUYER: ...from a fairly nominal cover... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LeCUYER: ...you get this blast of color coming at you.

These are all types of wrapping paper that would've been sold, um, and, and probably represent the sizes.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LeCUYER: Unlike the way we think of wrapping paper today, on the rolls... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LeCUYER: ...um, this was actually the size of the wrapping paper, and there probably could have even been folding instructions.

I haven't investigated this, uh, to see, but there were probably folding instructions that would come in here.

And you see the layers, and here we've got image.

I don't want to bend these at all.

If you could assist me with that and just bring one over.

These are gorgeous.

And what the idea would be is that the image of the woman would be on the center of the box.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LeCUYER: We come down here and even more, uh, so they were all some form of a woman's image.

Now we've lost one here.

GUEST: Correct.

LeCUYER: And there are some damages of others.

Others have been pulled out.

Um, but these are fabulous in color.

Uh, we don't see images like this being produced.

There are probably somewhere around 40, 45, 50 images.

If it came up at auction, I would think it's going to produce somewhere in the $800 to $1,200 range.

Mm-hmm.

LeCUYER: Um, maybe a little bit more.

But if each image were framed... GUEST: Right.

LeCUYER: ...you're probably $100 an image, $4,500 to $6,000 for the collection of images that are here.

And it really is fairly timeless.

Lithographic printing, which is what this company was known for, they did posters, they did promotionals, all sorts of things.

We just don't see this kind of printing being done today, and there is a depth of color and of character that even with all the digital efforts that are out there... GUEST: Mmm.

LeCUYER: ...I see more charm in this than I do in contemporary printing.

It's a, it's a one-of-a-kind.

I don't think any of us have ever seen one of these in, in 15 or more years of doing this show.

And I just want to thank you for bringing it out today.

It's a wonderful thing.

GUEST: I'm glad I got to share it.

I love the vibrant colors... LeCUYER: Right.

GUEST: ...as well.

LeCUYER: That's what speaks to it.

GUEST: And I envisioned it being framed also.

LeCUYER: Right.

I think that's the ticket.

(Cash register bell dings).

(Overlapping chatter).

REDDING: Hello, and welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Good morning.

Thank you.

REDDING: I appreciate you coming in today.

Can you tell me a little bit about what you might have brought in?

GUEST: Well, Patrick, this was a weapon that my father gave me.

It is, uh, it's a lever-action rifle, and, uh, it shoots an abnormally large slug.

It's more of a pistol than a, than a rifle.

REDDING: Okay, so you acquired this from your father then?

GUEST: Yes, he told me, his last instructions to me was, "Take care of your mother, and don't sell the weapon."

REDDING: There you go.

GUEST: Don't sell it, right.

REDDING: What you brought in today is a Winchester Model 1873 Deluxe rifle, okay?

And Winchester made this rifle from 1873 to 1919.

It's quite a long production run.

GUEST: Quite a long run, yeah.

REDDING: Yeah, it was a very good production model for Winchester.

It also was known as "The Gun that Won the West."

And you kind of referred back at the beginning when we started this about the pistol cartridge.

Why this gun was so famous with the cowboys was the fact it also, that cartridge, which is 44-40, is actually what Colt Single Action Armies were caliberized to.

So the caliber could work for both the long gun and the handgun.

So that's why the cowboys really liked this gun, and that's why it's referred to as "The Gun that Won the West."

Now, what you brought us in today is the Winchester 1873, which is correct, but it's above that.

It's an 1873 Deluxe model, and what that means is the checkering that you see on this, right?

GUEST: Yeah.

REDDING: That had to be a special order.

Okay?

So Winchester did not make this a standard production gun, so if a customer wanted to upgrade their firearm, they could.

So that's why this gun is a Deluxe.

And when you have straight grip right here, they offered straight grip and pistol grip, so that was the options that you could order from Winchester.

And the other thing is, is a set trigger, which I'll point to it down here, which is a single set trigger.

You could adjust that screw and make that trigger a hair trigger, a much lighter trigger pull.

GUEST: I see.

REDDING: Okay?

It's a First Model 1873.

You know what a First Model means?

GUEST: No.

REDDING: Okay, a First Model, you see this thumbprint dust cover here?

GUEST: Yes.

REDDING: Okay, I'm going to roll it over there.

That thumbprint dust cover was only manufactured on the first 30,000 Winchester 1873s.

So this is what they refer to as a First Model Winchester 1873.

So what's unique about this gun is the fact that it's an above-average gun due to the rarity of having a thumbprint dust cover.

It's a First Model.

It's a Deluxe gun with the checkering, single set trigger.

So this is, was made for somebody specifically and had means, because all those options I'm talking about are upgrades and were not standard production guns.

So this was in a more expensive gun in the time period when it was manufactured.

All right?

So one of the things when I first looked at the gun this morning, you got to remember, when these guns that were made, they were made as tools.

They weren't made as collectible guns as they are today.

So when you showed me the gun, and I first saw the stock and saw the checkering, I knew right away it was a Deluxe.

But actually reviewing the gun later on with you and looking over it, at some point in this gun's life, the gun might have been reblued.

Okay?

Now mind you, this gun was made as a tool, a way of life back in the day, in the frontier days.

Well, remember, "The Gun that Won the West."

So the bluing might have wore off the gun.

At some point, somebody might have reblued the gun and get it back to looking the way it was when it originally was shipped.

Now, when this gun was shipped originally, it was blued finish and a case-hardened receiver.

And a case-hardened receiver refers to, like, a rainbow finish, has different colors, has reds and blues and oranges, and very, very pretty receiver.

So once I saw the receiver, I kind of knew that at some point in its life, this gun had been reblued.

That's not a bad thing because it was a way of life.

I mean, this, they didn't, again, in 1880, this wasn't being bought as a collector gun.

GUEST: Could I ask you about bluing, Patrick?

REDDING: Sure.

Bluing is a process that they take the gun and make it look like back in the day when it was manufactured, to make it like new again.

GUEST: It has no functional value other than just the sight beauty or... REDDING: Strictly making the gun look original again.

And when I started looking at the lettering that's on the barrel there, some of it's very pronounced, and some of it's very thin, and we'll get some closer shots at the end of this on that.

GUEST: Sure.

REDDING: But overall, the bottom line is you have a great gun here.

Okay?

With the characteristics of the gun, special order Winchester, the configuration that it's in, it's just a really remarkable gun for you to bring in today, and I was really happy to see it.

Have you ever had the gun evaluated or appraised or anything like that?

GUEST: I haven't.

REDDING: Okay.

So I'm going to give you two prices just to show you how the difference in originality versus reblued could be.

In the configuration that this gun's in right now, I would appraise this gun between the $10,000 and $15,000 mark.

Okay?

Now, if this gun was in its original shape, original bluing, and case-hardened frame, you'd be looking at almost a $40,000 gun.

GUEST: Wow.

REDDING: All right?

GUEST: Okay.

REDDING: Now, it's still a great gun, but I'm just showing you the difference in the valuations because you got to remember, this gun was a tool.

I keep going back to that.

It was a way of life.

It wasn't for collector desirability like they are today.

GUEST: Right.

REDDING: But this is a great, great find.

It's a great piece of family history, and hopefully you back up what your dad's orders were.

GUEST: Yeah.

You betcha.

REDDING: And I really do appreciate you bringing it in today.

GUEST: Thanks, Patrick.

REDDING: Thank you.

Nice having you.

GUEST: Good.

REDDING: Thank you.

GUEST: Good to be here.

Thank you.

REDDING: Absolutely.

Thank you, sir.

(Cash register bell rings) RYAN STEVENSON: Next time on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

KELBAUGH: I have yet to have anybody bring in a collection like this one.

GUEST: We've read a little bit of it, but we've been nervous because it's a fragile object.

KELBAUGH: Sure.

DENNIS HARTER: They are masks that are a part of one of the most famous court dances based on a tale from the Ramayana.

GUEST: This is a collection of different items all associated with the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."

GUEST: Now imagine this in one book and the size of the book.

SELDEN MORGAN: Huge.

GUEST: Once the bone turned into a spaceship, I was in heaven.

NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles.

Online and in-person gallery auctions every month.

Serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book-selling.

GUEST: It's just an awesome experience, and if you got something in your attic or in your basement you don't know nothing about, bring it here and they can tell you anything about it.

And you'll probably get on the show, just like I did.

GUEST: It was a very fun day today.

My first time was last year.

It was so much fun, we came back a second time.

GUEST: Interesting.

Last year I came with a group, and today I'm by myself, so it was a different experience.

GUEST: It was really exciting.

I had a great time meeting people and also the appraisers.

GUEST: But probably the most charming part about being here today is all the people you talk to while you're standing in line.

They share what they found, they share their stories, and that to me was worth, you know, signing up and coming in today.

ANNOUNCER: Stream anytime, anywhere with the free PBS app.