dealer in American Civil War relics who plans to visit the Island.

They say locals should resist the temptation to make a quick buck and instead save the objects for the long-term good of the Country.

Antiques dealer Mr. John Sexton, of Stone Mountain in Georgia, plans to set up shop at Hamilton's Oxford House hotel from July 9 to 11.

He is looking for mementoes of the Confederacy during Bermuda's role as a major blockade port between 1861 and 1865.

"We've hit several other islands,'' Mr. Sexton said yesterday. "Bermuda is just in the line of places we're going to try.'' He said Confederate navy buttons fetched up to $1,000, with a flag going for about $5,000 and a sword for around $10,000. China items -- which he believes a Sandys woman had in the 1950s -- could also fetch several thousand dollars.

He was also interested in meeting descendants of a Confederate naval officer who moved 18 members of his family here, to see what they had.

"It's amazing the prices these things can fetch,'' he added.

But National Trust properties officer Mr. Hubert Jones, responsible for the Confederate Museum in St. George's and other buildings, appealed to owners of such objects to get in touch.

"If they could contact myself at the Trust we would be interested in working with anyone with regard to having these artifacts preserved and possibly displayed.

"Financially we're not in a position to buy everything that we would like to have for the museum, but we would be interested in obtaining gifts and articles on loan.

"Preservation is foremost in our minds, even if the articles remain in a private collection.

"We would like Bermuda considered first and the preservation of our heritage.'' Maritime Museum director Dr. Ed Harris said that instead of short-term monetary gain, people should think of the long-term economic benefits to the Country of having historic attractions for visitors to see.

"Bermuda is a very small place and the number of artifacts relating to Bermuda's history, including the important American Civil War period, are very small in number. We should really be making every attempt to retain these objects in Bermuda for the future.'' He called for the law on the export of historic objects to be extended, especially to cover things taken from archaeological sites like shipwrecks. At the moment export laws mainly covered items made in Bermuda, he said.

Mr. Sexton said he agreed items of local importance should be kept on the Island.

"If something is truly of historical significance and relates to Bermuda's history in any way I would agree. But what we're really looking for are souvenirs -- little nick-nacks.

"If there is anything museums are interested in I'm sure we could make arrangements, maybe a trade.''