What Is Your Civil War Relic?
Found something in the attic, the field, or an estate sale? Our free guides help you identify the object, tell an original from a reproduction, and understand what drives its value.
Start Identifying Ask an ExpertStart With Your Relic
Pick the category that looks closest. Each guide walks you through identification, the tells that separate genuine pieces from reproductions, and the factors that set value.
Belt Plates & Buckles
Union and Confederate belt plates, box plates, and buckles — construction, patterns, and the fakes that flood the market.
Identify →Uniform Buttons
Eagle "I / A / C" device buttons, state seal buttons, and backmarks — how to read them and date them.
Identify →Bayonets
Socket and sword bayonets, ricasso stamps, and the reproductions passed off as battlefield finds.
Identify →Soldier ID Discs
The privately bought identification discs and pins soldiers wore — genuine period tags vs. modern restrikes.
Identify →Cartridge Boxes
Leather cartridge and cap boxes, tins, and box plates — construction, markings, and condition.
Identify →See All Guides
Browse the full identification library — new artifact guides are added regularly.
Browse the Library →Submit Your Relic for Identification
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Submit a PhotoHistory You Can Hold — Identified Correctly
Relics of War is a reference library for authentic military artifacts of the American Civil War and beyond. Every guide is built by collectors and historians who handle these objects, with a hard focus on the one question the internet answers badly: is it real?
A publication of Historical Publications LLC — publishers of Civil War News and Military Antique Collector.