Chubb Ltd., which in 1969 paid a theft claim on a 1770s Revolutionary War musket stolen from the Valley Forge Historical Society Museum in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, has donated the recovered gun to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, the insurer said in a statement.
It was the last leg of a journey involving small-town law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and sharp-eyed observer Joel Bohy, a renowned historic arms and militaria expert who regularly appears on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser.
Local police detectives from Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, showed Mr. Bohy pictures of the missing musket and “he immediately recognized the rare historical artifact from a trade show he attended three weeks earlier,” Chubb said. The FBI said it contacted the collector in Maryland, who had no connection to the heist and gave the gun to investigators.
A repatriation ceremony was held Monday at the national museum, which acquired a collection of artifacts from the Valley Forge Historical Society. Chubb, which typically retains ownership over stolen goods it pays claims on, did not reveal how much it paid for the stolen musket more than 50 years ago.
