GUEST: I brought in a family sword. It's been in the family for multiple generations. I don't know a lot about it.
APPRAISER: Well, it's actually from the Mexican War era, mid-1840s, and would have been carried by either a high NCO or an officer. It's got a gilt brass hilt, with foliate designs all through here, panoply of arms, and we move up here with this wonderful eagle and dolphin heads. The grip is silver washed, it's not solid silver, nicely engraved, and we end up with the helmet here and the chains.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: We flip it over, you can see that it's made by N.P. Ames in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Ames is very well known for their cutlery and swords. So this is a wonderful sword. On the blade it has some wear, but you can still see the Ames manufacturer's markings, the foliate designs, and the panoply of arms engraved on it. I would put an auction estimate of around $1,500 to $2,000 on it, maybe a little bit higher.
