by William Chapman
On PBS's Antiques Roadshow in May of this year, a pre-Civil War New York militia frock coat was appraised at $5,000 to $7,000 dollars. I thought it was interesting for a number of reasons, but had forgotten to post about it until now. The coat is dark blue wool with nine "Excelsior" New York state buttons. The coat was quite small and narrow. It had horsehair padding in the chest and three cuff buttons on each sleeve. The owner of the coat was a member of the 29th New York light artillery, a prewar militia company. The coat, a video of the appraisal, and a transcript from the show can be seen at Antiques Roadshow's website.
Wow! What a great find. $5,000 is a whole lot of money!
Posted by: Sandy | July 20, 2008 at 07:53 PM
It really is. I would love to be the owner of something like that!
Posted by: william | July 21, 2008 at 12:33 PM
It's interesting that the interior padding is horsehair. All originals I've seen/read about have either silk or cotton padding...It looks almost like a telegroika pattern.
Posted by: Tyler Mink | January 27, 2009 at 08:56 AM
Really a nice design. Thanks a lot for posting this.
Posted by: Fancy Dress Costumes | September 02, 2009 at 07:06 AM