Articles, Research, and Thoughts on Collecting Arms and Artifacts

by NEAAS Members

Antique FirearmA Visit to the Atlanta History Museum, by Dick Meyer 
 
Your Secretary reports that he visited family in Atlanta, Georgia last month and was thrilled to meet with Bo Debose, a long time collector and (as was his father and grandfather) of Civil War memorabilia.  Bo was a gracious host to me and my son.  He entertained us at his mansion.  Bo showed us his many collections which included rare porcelains, vintage wines, European fine art and a fine assortment of rare CW items including lots of artillery projectiles.  I liked his Cook & Brother carbine in mint condition.  He had a Whitworth rifle, but no Fergusons.

Bo and his forebears have been collecting history for many years (longer than you or I have been alive).  As a result of space limitations, he has given much of his collection of rare and unique CW items to the Atlanta History Museum.  It is one of the better run museums in the U.S. and features wonderful displays of both Union and Confederate materials, much of which are in dioramas.  My son and I were privileged to be shown the museum "cellar" by Dr. Gordon Jones, Senior Military Historian, where they have stored an "organ pipe" collection of antique long guns.  The strategy is to refresh the dioramas on the main floor periodically with materials from the "cellar."

Bottom line -- if you get anywhere near Atlanta, stop in at the Atlanta History Museum, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, GA  30305 (404-814-4000) and leave yourself enough time to see it all.  You will be richly rewarded.

Antique FirearmRobins & Lawrence and the American Precision Museum, Windsor, Vermont, by Dick Meyer

The firm of Robbins & Lawrence, Windsor, Vermont traces it roots to 1844.  They became the largest private armory in the New World, primarily being subsidized by contracts with the U.S. Government.  In 1852, they signed a contract with The Sharps Rifle Company of Hartford, Connecticut to manufacture its Sharps rifles and carbines.  They were also instrumental in building the new Sharps plant in Hartford after the Sharps guns became popular with the public.  In 1855, they took a contract from the British government for 6,000 Sharps carbines to be used in the Crimean War.  Sharps was hoping to sell them their surplus Model 1852 carbines, but they wanted the British guns to be equipped with the Maynard tape primer ignition.  So it was necessary to retool.  When the War ended suddenly, the British canceled the contract, leaving Robbins & Lawrence with massive debt.  The Robbins & Lawrence Company failed on October 28, 1856.  Then Richard Smith Lawrence took charge of the new Sharps plant in Hartford, located just north of Capitol Avenue, west of Flower Street.  It was there that Sharps produced the Model 1859 weapons used in the Civil War.

The American Precision Museum, a recipient of a donation from the NEAAS, is housed in the restored former Robbins & Lawrence building in Windsor, Vermont, next to the Mill River.  The museum has a wonderful collection of original Robbins & Lawrence machinery, most of which is in pristine condition.  They often give demonstrations using this machinery, and I recommend you visit the facility at your earliest convenience.  

Some thoughts (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) from a guy who purports, with little money, to have made all the mistakes possible yet still loves the thrill of the chase above all!  by Allen J. Benting 



Are you a collector or simply an accumulator?  

Collecting is more fun than a truck load of monkeys in a barnful of cow flops!  Everything in a collection enhances the interest and value of everything else around it.  Accumulating stuff, however, just gives you a temporary rush.  Your accumulation eventually becomes just a boring, meaningless, disassociated bunch of junk!  When you buy things only because they're cheap and you try to sell them, they have little value.  They're not even cheap any more. 

Everything eventually comes back to market.  Buy only the best in whatever you collect.  But remember that when the BEST comes along, one seldom has the dough to buy it.  If you already own the best things, there's always a market for them so it's easiest to upgrade good things immediately, AT A PROFIT, so you can buy even BETTER bests, even at next year's prices. 

Stay FOCUSED!  If it doesn't fit your collection, wait for the RIGHT item.  Why settle for second rate things when the BEST is almost always around eventually?  BE PATIENT! 

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!  Knowing what to buy is much more important than having a pocketful of money for the wrong things. 

Buy books on the topic related to your collection. The investment will repay itself many times over.  I never bought a book I didn't make a ton with.  Quietly become your OWN expert!  When  you discover a mistake in your judgment, (and if you are at all aggressive as a collector you will), disassociate yourself from the item as soon as possible.  Take your loss and move on! 

NEVER be sold anything.  YOU must know more than the seller OR you'll constantly "GET TOOK!" 

NEVER say, "Oh what the heck!" then buy an item.  Buy based upon FACT, not supposition or emotion.  "If it is in doubt, then leave it out."  Beware of unsubstantiated histories, historic embellishments, and deals from newfound friends. 

What determines price is rarity, condition, present competition, substantiated history, and LUCK! 

Don't be a CHEAPSKATE!  Lowball offers NEVER work on the BEST stuff.  There is nothing wrong with paying next year's price for the best items.  If you pass the RIGHT item because it's just a bit out of the money, next year you will be whining much more than if you had bought the item. 

ALWAYS keep the Bride in the loop.  When you own the BEST, based upon past history, the price of the good stuff when associated with other good things of the same ilk, rises faster than any other investment.  The Mrs., who is NO dummy, (after all, she married YOU!), will come to accept the price you pay knowing that the best will always be worth more, and she further will be charmed by the happy beaming face of the guy she purports to still love!

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