From the April 2008 Smithsonian "To Catch a Thief" by Steve Twomey.
Dean Thomas of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is not your average Civil War buff. He takes it to the next level and has self-published a 1,360 page, three-volume study called "Round Ball to Rimfire" which covers every type of cartridge, ball and bullet used during the war with another volume on Confederate munitions to come.
Needless to say, he has done extensive research and he was surprised to find letters from munition companies to the Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia, which was a major supplier to the Union Army during the war.
His brother Jim was looking for a gift for Dean and bid on two of the letters on eBay. Dean got a look at them and asked Jim to bid on a third. But he puzzled over how they got to eBay. They won the bid for the three at $298.88.
But now the seller had an additional letter from an American diplomat concerning an Austrian ammunition called guncotton, to which Dean had devoted eight pages and had used the very same letter which he had photocopied in the National Archives 25 years earlier.
A crime had been commited. He searched his files and found a copy of one of the letters his brother had bought, then two others copies of others the seller was offering.
So, who would steal a letter on guncotton, hardly what you would call a really big artifact concerning the war unless you're a guy like Dean Thomas?
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
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