Ted Gonzales occasionally gets some unusual items in his jewelry shop that people want to sell.

One of those was a Babe Ruth poster.

Another was a bearskin rug from a black bear — claws and all.

"I buy, sell and trade — diamonds, gold watches mostly," said Gonzales, owner of Pacific Diamond and Swiss Watch Exchange on Kapiolani Boulevard. "If it’s interesting, I’ll buy it."

In late 2012, in came an ornate Union Army officer’s Civil War sword and scabbard.

How it got to Honolulu is unclear, but almost exactly 150 years to the day after its young owner fell at the Battle of Petersburg on June 17, 1864, the sword is heading back to the battlefield for display in a museum.

If it’s a mystery how 2nd Lt. Edwin I. Coe’s 1850 model foot officer’s sword came across the Pacific, it’s serendipity that it’s going back.

Jimmy Blankenship, historian for the National Park Service’s Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia, said it was "a day that historians live for" when he was contacted about the sword.

The museum readily offered what Gonzales says he paid for it — $800 — and plans to put it on exhibit in the battlefield’s visitor center, the two parties said.

Blankenship said that what makes the sword unique is the amount of historical documentation associated with it.

"The majority of Civil War swords have no documentation — it’s just a sword from the time period of the Civil War," he said in an email.

In this case, Blankenship said, it’s known the sword belonged to Coe, there is a photo of him (which is extremely rare), his death is described in the regimental history of the 57th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and he is buried in the Poplar Grove National Cemetery owned and administered by the Petersburg National Battlefield.

"With these four factors all coming together at one time, Lt. Coe’s sword is indeed a very important Civil War artifact, and it definitely belongs here at Petersburg," Blankenship said.

The sword, made by the Ames Manufacturing Co. in Chicopee, Mass., has a blade etched with eagles, cannons, wheat and "U.S.," and its hand guard and mounts are gold-gilt.

On the scabbard is the inscription: "Presented to 2d Lieut. E.I. Coe, Co. A, 57 Regt., 2d (unintelligible) by his friends in Worcester, Mass."

The sword and scabbard are in excellent condition, and really have "been taken care of," he said.

"This foot officer’s sword could have been the one Coe carried into battle when he was killed," Blankenship said.

The saber’s return to the battlefield began in late 2012 when a customer of Gonzales’ came into his shop with it.

That individual cleared out estates, and the sword came from a Honolulu home after the owner died in his 90s, Gonzales said.

He said, "Geez, do you think it’s worth anything or do you want to buy it?" Gonzales said. "And of course I was enamored with it, just because it was so unusual."

He bought it, did some basic research, couldn’t find much, kept it by his desk, and took it out occasionally to show friends.

One of the people he showed it to was Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics in the crime prevention and justice assistance division of the state Attorney General’s Office, who went to Gonzales’ shop for a wedding ring.

A military history buff, Perrone started doing some research on the sword.

Perrone thought it might have been a presentation sword given after the war, but he said he learned officers had to buy their own swords, that "his friends and family would get together to buy him his sword before he left" for battle.

He then found Coe in government archives, and his history.

The officer was just 19 years old when commissioned in the 57th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

"He carried a high sense of honor from civil to military life, and would, without doubt, have gained a higher rank had his life been spared," an account of the unit stated.

In the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 12, 1864, he was hit by a musket ball and threw up his hands, leading others to think Coe had been killed, but he reappeared soon after, apparently uninjured.

Before the June 17 charge at Petersburg, Coe had a premonition he would be killed.

Petersburg would become the longest military event of the Civil War, with 70,000 casualties over 91⁄2 months. Its trench warfare foreshadowed World War I.

After learning about the sword’s history, Gonzales said his inclination was to sell the relic.

"This is an easy sell," Gonzales said, recalling his initial take on the matter. "But you know, he (Perrone) was so passionate about it and he said, ‘Geez Ted, this shouldn’t be on top of somebody’s fireplace. He (said), this needs to be returned home, where people can enjoy it for generations.’"

An almost identical sword is for sale at an Ohio historical antiques shop for $5,985, but Gonzales and Perrone think Coe’s sword is worth even more.

"I talked to my wife, and she said, ‘You know Ted, good things happen to good people,’" Gonzales said. "And he (Perrone) is so passionate, he kept on telling me, ‘I just can’t imagine, this guy was a hero. I mean, he went out there and he charged and he died with it in his arms.’ And I said, ‘You are right, let’s put it in a museum.’"

Petersburg National Battlefield is paying to have the sword professionally packed and shipped.

Perrone would like one more bit of linkage back to the young second lieutenant who owned it.

"When we ship it, we want a photograph of the sword on (Coe’s) gravestone," he said.