I have been interested in the Civil War since a visit to Gettysburg when I was eight years old.  I began collecting small artifacts in the 1970s.  By the early 1980s, my collection was growing rapidly.  I purchased items with good provenance when I could find them.  Although my specific collecting interest at the time was Gettysburg items, I tried to pick up anything that was connected with specific battlefields.  My "excellent provenance" collection began to expand rapidly when I began to relic hunt in the early 80s.  Although I did not have the time (or live in a location) to allow me to hunt frequently, I got out when I could.  Among the locations I got to hunt was the historic Rummel Farm on the East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg (when it was still private property and after I received permission!) 

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  After moving to Gettysburg in 2002, I had a greater opportunity to find relics for sale - particularly relics with good Gettysburg provenance.  Today, I am still always on the lookout for relics and relic collections being sold around Gettysburg.  I always look for the items that have specific location or specific ownership provenance.  Many of these items find their way into my collection, but many others will be offered here - collecting Civil War items can be an expensive hobby so I sell items in order to be able to keep buying pieces that I want to add to my personal collection.  Sometimes I will let a good piece from my collection go in order to make room for something new.

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  My specific collecting interest has shifted.  I am now building a collection of Antietam items with solid location provenance but I am also still collecting Gettysburg relics.  If you have any Antietam or Gettysburg items that were found at specific locations on the battlefield (before the land was owned by the government) that you might want to sell or trade, please contact me!!

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Increasingly, more and more items are showing up on the market with supposed Gettysburg or Antietam provenance, particularly on Ebay.  Sadly, in many cases, the provenance for these items has been falsified in order to get the high prices that items from these battlefields demand.  I know of at least two regular Ebay sellers who seem to have an endless supply of Gettysburg items who, there can be no doubt, are making this provenance up.  This bothers me because it is unfair to the collector and, ultimately, destroys the proper history that is associated with those specific relics.  I always research the items that I buy, collect and sell (the best that I can).  I will only buy from people that I trust or those who can provide solid provenance information.  On a couple of occasions during the last year, I have returned items to dealers (including a fairly large collection) when my research caused me to question the provenance that I was given.  If I feel uncertain about an item's provenance, I will say so in my descriptions.