
A Memphis seller offered a 16″ political powder horn on eBay. It had highly skilled engravings of Lincoln, Johnson, a Republican torchlight parade and Columbia. The seller claimed it was 1865-1910 vintage. The horn itself looked period, but the engraving displayed no wear whatsoever. Plus, the subject was a highly unusual one for a powder horn. One potential buyer brought this lack of wear to his attention in a posted email. The seller then explained he bought the item at a Julia’s firearms and military auction in Maine a while back, at the tail end of the sale, and that he believed it was an old piece, consistent with other items in the sale which mostly came from one source. Bidding on the eBay offering had commenced and had reached over $1200 when the listing was ended early. Maybe someone did a private treaty sale. Maybe the seller felt the “natives were getting a little restless.” Draw your own conclusions!



