Though I have read and seen a great deal about the Civil War, including Ken Burns’ documentary series, whenever I think of Civil War swords I think of the famous (or infamous) pilot episode of “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS several years back, which has been shown numerous times since it first aired. A man brought in a Civil War sword for appraisal, claiming he had found it in his attic and had once used it to slice a watermelon. The on-camera appraisers and alleged sword owner got excited and estimated its worth in the five figures.
Later, it was revealed that the sword was authentic, but the man was a friend of the on-camera appraisers and the whole incident had been staged. The producers of the show were not even in on the joke at the time. To their credit, they have made efforts to remove all portions of the shows that included the two appraisers that were involved in the deception.
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