US Military Bag

J.Dany

Hi there,

I'm new-ish to boards.ie (as well as antiques) so please bear with me and forgive any mistakes I might make in posting. I think I'm in the right section for my type of post at least!

A year or two ago I was given an old leather bag. I thought it looked like an old post bag or something, and I presumed it was American because it had the obvious 'US' lettering on the front. After a bit of research, I discovered it was an old US Military Cavalry bag.

While I never originally intended to sell it, I've since discovered it might be worth quite a bit of money. I found this on ebay -http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-US-Army-World-War-II-Calvary-Horse-Saddle-Riding-Gear-Saddlebags-Bag-/120624900398

The bag I have is basically identical, as you will be able to see from the attached picture.

My questions are:
What would be the best way to get the bag properly valued?
Would I be better off selling online (if I do decide to sell)?
Would I have more success if I were aiming it towards the American market?

Thanks for your help in advance!

danpatjoe

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I am probably not going to be much help here, but I would advise caution when checking approximate values using ebay.

Generally, it is a waste of time because there is always someone out there that massively overprices their items in the hope that some sucker will bite. I have a feeling that this is the case with the seller in the link you provided - and the price is reduced from $2,200 to $1,980?!!

To illustrate my point, currently on ebay, there is a double set of "Early 1900's Brown LEATHER U.S CAVALRY Horse Miltary SADDLE BAGS" that look just like yours with a 'buy it now' price of US$364.99. See:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Early-1900s-Brown-LEATHER-U-S-CAVALRY-Horse-Miltary-SADDLE-BAGS-/380608360952?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item589e06b1f8

And another at $349.99, See:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORIGINAL-US-CAVALRY-Model-1904-McClellan-SADDLEBAGS-FREE-SHIP-USA-ONLY-/221010314599?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33753dc567

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not trying to misguide you, but just be aware of the other prices that these are fetching.
Remember too that I may well be completely wrong and yours might be a rare variant or something like that!

Are there any other stampings anywhere on the bag, internally or external? I would be surprised if there was not a makers name and date stamped somewhere as most of the WW2 US leather items I have seen have (admittedly I have seen only a limited amount).

You might have a better chance of finding a true value by joining an on-line forum that has members that specialise in US Cavalry items - I'm sure there must be at least one out there! After a quick google search, You could try:
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/
You might also have better luck selling it through a forum like that, should you wish.

Regards - Dan

J.Dany

Hi Dan,

Thanks very much for your reply. I must say I was a bit suspicious over the high price initially! The bag had no other obvious markings that I could see, so it might make my job a bit more difficult. I'll try looking for some help on the forum you suggested and maybe some others. I'm not in a hurry to get rid of it or anything, but it's just one of those jobs I'd been meaning to get around to.

Thanks again!