Gettysburg Museum selling all its Civil War artifacts to the public

[l.cutler]

Well all the stuff for sale right this moment says its from the battlefield during the civil war, so I don't know where the newspaper got that info, unless of course the website is BS.
I really don't care either way, aside from it basically being a cemetery..the actual battlefield.

This quote from their website says they have provenance.

Quote.
All artifacts in the section were recovered from The Gettysburg Battlefield before it was a National Park. Everything is 100% authentic from the area stated and is legal to own. We carry only authentic Civil War artifacts. All have been authenticated by The Gettysburg Museum of History. We offer museum documentation on all Civil War artifacts and relics sold by us. You will receive a document verifying the items authenticity..end quote.

I'd just like to know if the items for sale are actually from the battlefield from during the war like it says. Because if it is...I'll buy some things, at least I'll know it won't be left to rot in a museum basement somewhere.

Mike

The Gettysburg Museum of History that you are talking about is a totally different museum than the one under discussion. The Gettysburg Museum of History is another private museum where many of the items are also for sale. The Gettysburg Museum of History has been featured on American Pickers, and the owner appears on Pawn Stars from time to time.

 

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[BC1969]

Doh! Pwned! You are right! I did not notice the difference, seen it is located where the one in the ops post is and didn't research further...that's unlike me to do that..somebody hit me with a bat or something..
Just one played off the name of another..sneaky!

Mike

PS surprised nobody else pointed that out..slackers heh.

 

[jerseyben]

Having personally been to this museum, I can say that several people in this thread are getting bent out of shape over nothing.

Honestly, if the items were so cherished, don't you think someone important (museum or private collector) would step up to save them or put them into another museum?

And yes, there is another free museum just up the road where almost everything is for sale. Visiting it was one of the highlights of my most recent trip to Gettysburg.

 

[BARKER]

HI; Some of the things you said are NEWS to me in that the Article and Poster did not say that these items were NOT recovered Directly from the Battle Field or that the vast majority of these relics were of little consequence or value. I just hope the ones that were important do make their way into better museums. Thanks for your input and clarity.
I'm sure you can understand my own anger at this type of tragedy given the unknowns that you stated. Thanks.
I to am very Historical Preservation minded and have made many donations over the years here as well. Anyways. PEACE:RONB

 

[gunsil]

Having been there many times since the late 1950s, and having once been a major collector of civil war belt plates I have to agree with ben and cutler. It was crummy tourist joint and as others mentioned there were reproductions displayed there without being labeled so. Most of downtown Gettysburg is made of tourist trap antique stores and the two little museums. Remember also that there are thousands of acres of private farm land surrounding the National Battlefield site and people have been digging there for a century and a half. After the battle people went out there to collect scrap metal to supplement their incomes. Farmers over the years found many relics in the plow furrows, people have metal detected there since the invention of metal detectors. The main battle area is a protected park, but there were many camps and skirmishes on what is now private property and thank god the government cannot regulate these areas.
As to museums selling their collections, this is a very common practice and anyone who thinks that if they donate an object to a museum it will be preserved for future generation forever lives in a fantasy world. NEWS FLASH!! MOST museums sell off objects that have been donated to them!! The American Museum of Natural History in NYC has sold thousands of artifacts, the Museum of the American Indian sold thousands of items to finance it's move from NYC to DC. Not only that but most of these museums, including the Smithsonian have so much donated to them that they have such huge storage areas of things donated to them that they have not ever opened the crates to see what is in them. Most museums often have doubles of certain artifacts and gladly trade them for items they don't have or sell them outright to pay their expenses or acquire new items. I have traded directly with museums in the past and know others who have done the same. Museums are not sacred places and many smaller ones have no one there who even knows how to preserve the items in the museum and they deteriorate. Many of these items would be better preserved if left in private collections where they would get better care than many museums can provide. Frankly I am glad to see the passing of the little museum in Gettysburg which had misleading information on a lot of their items. Oh, by the way, I was at the museum in West Point, N.Y. recently, and yes, it is the official museum of the military academy, and was appalled to see modern repros of Thompson submachine guns displayed without any tags saying they were repros!! Still a cool military museum for all to visit when in the area.

 

[BARKER]

Hi Gunsil; Thanks for the info. My problem is not with that museum going under but rather with the lack of respect shown or given the actual, real relics from Gettysburg. I just galls me when I hear it. Bottom line to me is that Gettysburg is Hallowed Ground and anything coming from it should be treated with it's due proper respect. I agree that many of these articles are better off in Private Collections where they will be better cared for. I just don't want to see these Relics lost just for someone to make a fast buck. I hope you guys understand my points here ok. PEACE:RONB

 

[Keppy]

Well it is like this with me i do not care if they were made to look like civil war items ….Or if they were real dug up civil war items …. They are his and i do not care what he does with them … If he makes some good money good for him……………… I really could care less Real or fake...

 

[Frankn]

My one concern would be if some of the items that he has (is) selling were donated items. I would be very upset if I had donated some items to a local museum, only to find that they were being sold to the highest bidder. As far as other museums go, yes, they sell and trade among themselves all the time. They will be up in arms to hear of a collector selling their finds, but they are just as guily of doing this.

I plan on making some donations very soon to a few of our local museums, but I want it in writing that if they ever decide to trade these items off, or sell them, then they will be returned to me.

What you do is make a permant loan of your items then they can't be sold, only returned. Frank