1776 Identified Revolutionary Soldier's Powder Horn
GUEST: I brought a powder horn from the Revolutionary War owned by Levi Greene.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: He was a patriot in the Revolutionary War. Belongs to me right now, but it's part of the Greene heritage. My late husband, it was his great-great-great grandfather, Levi Greene. He was born in the 1700s. He came in from Massachusetts, but he settled right in this area, West Bloomfield, Michigan. They developed a farm there. 1832 is when they came and settled into Michigan. The farmhouse is still there, and the barn, but everything else is developed.
APPRAISER: He died in 1851.
GUEST: Yeah, 94 years old. Levi Greene was cousin to General Nathanael Greene.
APPRAISER: Who most people who study the Revolutionary War know. So it says "Levi Greene, his horn, who enlisted in the Continental Service"-- all the great misspellings it should have-- "to range in the county of Albany in the year 1776. Under Lieutenant Jackson." I looked up his pension records and he left a great description of his service.
GUEST: Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER: Yeah. He came through Rhode island...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...and then into Massachusetts.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And he lived in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, which is out by the New York border. In July of '76, he went into service as a ranger and he was around Albany. And it says that they were searching for Tories and protecting property. So what they were doing is they were looking for people who were loyal to the king still and arresting them.
GUEST: Oh...
APPRAISER: And then because Loyalists were-- Tories were raiding the area, so they wanted to protect the area from those people. In the early stages of 1777, he was drafted into the Massachusetts militia and he ended up in Vermont. And at the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777, um, he fought in the battle. And during that battle, they killed and captured a bunch of Hessian German troops. And he mentions helping the dead and dying off the battlefield that day. He helped take the prisoners back towards Lanesborough, Mass. He ended up living in New York after the Revolution, and as you said, he moved out this way. I didn't expect to see something like this. I'm from Massachusetts...
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: ...and I didn't expect to see a horn carried by a guy from Mass here, which is fantastic. It's made from cow, um, with a pine plug. And as far as it being carved by Levi, it's hard to say-- it could have been, but there were people in the camps who were paid to carve horns for people that had artistic skills. And the size is kind of small.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: The regulations in Mass Militia were that they were to hold a pound of powder, and this one couldn't hold a pound.
GUEST: Probably didn't. Probably didn't.
APPRAISER: It has the perfect patina.
GUEST: Is that right?
APPRAISER: Yes. The color, the carving, everything is beautiful on it. Now, it does have a little bit of damage. You can see the cracks here on the spout. And this screw was added at a later date. You can also see two little nubs right here. Those are from an iron wire loop which would have been on here originally to hold a strap so he could sling it over his shoulder. The value of these horns is based upon, um, where they fought, who the person was. Even with the condition issues, it has a value at auction of $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST: That's awesome.
APPRAISER: Yeah, it's-it's-it's really good.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: I would insure it for $8,000.
GUEST: Oh, I will do that, thank you, I appreciate that.
$4,000 Auction
$8,000 Insurance
Featured In
episode
Castle Farms, Hour 3
ROADSHOW returns to storm Castle Farms (nicely) in scenic Charlevoix one final time! — Mon, April 13, 2026
Horn
appraisal
Tlingit Bowl & Ladle
appraisal
1777 Engraved American Powder Horn
appraisal
Folk Art Carved Hat Rack, ca. 1900
appraisal
Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
