Antietam: Rare relic monument pyramid

This rare relic monument pyramid at the Connecticut Museum of History includes bullets. pieces
of artillery and other artifacts from the Battle of Antietam. 

In the decades immediately after the Civil War, relic collectors and veterans made displays of bullets, shrapnel, belt buckles, bayonets and the like to commemorate a battle. These relic monument pyramids are rare and highly collectible. In September, Dean Nelson, adminstrator at the Connecticut Museum of History in Hartford, gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of some of the Civil War relics in the museum's collection -- including this rare Antietam relic monument pyramid that belonged to a veteran of the battle. The Horse Soldier, a Gettysburg Civil War antiques store, offered a similar Antietam relic monument pyramid last fall for $22,500; Nelson said the one in the museum is probably worth $12,000 to $13,000. I don't think it will be added to my collection anytime soon.