French Model 1763/66 Musket, ca. 1770
APPRAISER: Tell me what you brought in today.
GUEST: A flintlock musket that's, was supposedly used in the Revolutionary War, that Ben Franklin made some deal with the French. I was in the Navy, and it was right around when the shah was in trouble, and we floated around in the Indian Ocean with a thousand Marines on our ship, ready for 'em to go ashore in Iran. They were willing to give me a lot of their money playing poker.
APPRAISER: (chuckles)
GUEST: So when I hit San Diego, I had money burning a hole in my pocket. So I went up to L.A. to my parents', and then we went to this estate sale that a friend of ours was having. He said he wouldn't take a penny less than what he paid for it, and he paid $75 for it.
APPRAISER: Nice.
GUEST: So I had to give him $75. I've had it since '75, when, uh, I got back.
APPRAISER: So what we have here is a French model 1763-'66 musket. These would have been made from 1763 and then altered. Um, the butts were shaved down a little bit. They added some springs to the bands, thinned out the stock a little bit. This one could have been made from anywhere between 1766 and early 1770s. By the outbreak of the American Revolution, we were in dire need of firearms. There was an embargo on arms from England. We couldn't get any here. And we were using old surplus arms, guns built from all sorts of different parts, and basically trying to cobble things together to function. Benjamin Franklin, amongst others in the Continental government, as well as states, were trying to bargain with, with French suppliers to get some of the arms out of their arsenals. In March of 1777, a ship arrived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, called the Mercury. And on board that ship were 11,987 of these muskets. On the left side of the breach is the important part of this gun, and it's marked "NH2B," and then "NO," and a three-digit number that's been defaced, but that stands for New Hampshire 2nd Battalion. They're very light, so they're hard to see. We know that they took 2,000 of these guns from that shipment. This is one of the guns that were shipped to Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, and were issued out to the New Hampshire troops who later carried these at the Battle of Monmouth. They were at Valley Forge and at Yorktown. So it's got a great, great history. The barrel length is 44 and three-eighths inches. Flintlock, as you mentioned, would fire about a .63, .64 musket ball. The other reason why they wanted these guns is to get as many troops as possible that were firing the same caliber musket ball. Because prior to this time, there were so many different guns, that they had to supply ammunition for all these different arms. There were other shipments that came in, so there was a lot of these guns that came in through Portsmouth, Boston, other states. We don't know exactly the number, but it could be into the hundreds of thousands. It's in overall untouched condition. The only thing that's wrong with this gun is, it's got the incorrect ramrod. Those you could get for probably $100, $150. This type of a gun, without that marking, in this condition, are in the $2,500-$3,000 range. That marking makes all the difference. I would say at auction, I would put this gun, a conservative $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST: (inhales deeply): Ooh. Now, I think of the things I could buy with that.
APPRAISER: Yeah. You certainly made some money on that one.
GUEST: Yeah, for $75, if I'd put it in the bank, I don't think I would have made that much.
$10,000 - $15,000 Auction
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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.
