C.S.(A missing) Belt Plate

[screwynewy]

You can't imagine the feeling and excitement when you are holding this heavy chunk of metal that you just unearthed and start to wipe away the caked on dirt to reveal a "C". Then a little more dirt comes off and you see an "S" and realize that you have just found an elusive C.S.A. belt plate, or at least half of one.
I was detecting an old school house site along a carriage road path yesterday and I found this belt plate.

It's my first CW belt plate of any kind so I'm super excited about that not to mention its a Confederate plate. While it is a little disappointing that it is broken I would rather have half of one than none at all. I don't really have much hope of finding the other half but I will definitely go back and search some more. Thanks for looking.

 

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[vpnavy]

Nice find screwynewy.

 

[GaRebel1861]

What a find! Even a half would make the frame here.

 

[jewelerguy]

outstanding find in my book

 

[FoundInNC]

Ken you are ON FIRE! Excellent CSA plate! That is EXTREMELY rare and I can't wait to see it!

 

[creskol]

I am trying to figure out which plate that is. It doesn't appear that the "hooks" are broken in your photos, yet I don't see any plates listed in my reference books with hooks like those. Any idea what the identity of that plate is?

-- In looking at it again, those nubs, I don't think, could even function as belt hooks. Also it looks like an M or something printed in the center along the break, or am I seeing things?

 

[goldnrelics]

now that there is COOL!

 

[screwynewy]

Ken you are ON FIRE! Excellent CSA plate! That is EXTREMELY rare and I can't wait to see it!

Thanks Brad, I couldn't believe it when I wiped the dirt away and saw the letters. I'm still pretty excited about it.

I am trying to figure out which plate that is. It doesn't appear that the "hooks" are broken in your photos, yet I don't see any plates listed in my reference books with hooks like those. Any idea what the identity of that plate is?

-- In looking at it again, those nubs, I don't think, could even function as belt hooks. Also it looks like an M or something printed in the center along the break, or am I seeing things?

I'm far from an expert on these CW buckles. I emailed Harry Ridgeway about it and he was a little stumped by it too. He suggested that the hooks on it where never bent over when it was made. From what I can tell they were not bent back straight so this could be true. I'll look closer at the back of the plate but what looks like letters is just shadows. I'm open to any suggestions or ideas about it.

 

[creskol]

Thanks Brad, I couldn't believe it when I wiped the dirt away and saw the letters. I'm still pretty excited about it.



I'm far from an expert on these CW buckles. I emailed Harry Ridgeway about it and he was a little stumped by it too. He suggested that the hooks on it where never bent over when it was made. From what I can tell they were not bent back straight so this could be true. I'll look closer at the back of the plate but what looks like letters is just shadows. I'm open to any suggestions or ideas about it.

How long are the nubs? They don't look like they were long enough to be bent over, nor am I familiar with any being rounded over like those.
That is an oddity for sure!

 

[screwynewy]

How long are the nubs? They don't look like they were long enough to be bent over, nor am I familiar with any being rounded over like those.
That is an oddity for sure!

The hooks are 1/2" long. It's just hard to tell from the angle of the picture that I posted.

Upon closer inspection it looks like I can barely see a date stamped in the back of the plate but it is so faint I really can't be sure. I could us a brass brush and try to clean this area. Don't think it would matter much since there really isn't much value to the plate broken like it is.

 

[mirage83]

I'd be OCD all over that location until I located the other half, would drive me nuts wondering where it's hiding. Super find in any case, make sure you let us know when the other side shows up.

 

[genlee]

I believe it is a re-strike, and the odd part of it is I was just in Gettysburg this weekend talking about that very issue. You see I the re-strike is from an original, and how you can tell is the doubling around the interior lines and around the letters.

I suggest you look at www.relicman.com he has a whole section with original and repro plates.

I actually hope I am wrong about it. Because it is quite beautiful and a super find.

Keep us posted.


john

 

[creskol]

I believe it is a re-strike, and the odd part of it is I was just in Gettysburg this weekend talking about that very issue. You see I the re-strike is from an original, and how you can tell is the doubling around the interior lines and around the letters.

I suggest you look at www.relicman.com he has a whole section with original and repro plates.

I actually hope I am wrong about it. Because it is quite beautiful and a super find.

Keep us posted.


john

Thanks Brad, I couldn't believe it when I wiped the dirt away and saw the letters. I'm still pretty excited about it.



I'm far from an expert on these CW buckles. I emailed Harry Ridgeway about it and he was a little stumped by it too. He suggested that the hooks on it where never bent over when it was made. From what I can tell they were not bent back straight so this could be true. I'll look closer at the back of the plate but what looks like letters is just shadows. I'm open to any suggestions or ideas about it.

I think he did contact the Relicman, Harry Ridgeway.

 

[screwynewy]

Genlee, thanks for the info. As a matter of fact I email Harry Ridgeway about this before I posted it because i didn't want to be claiming that I dug a genuine CSA plate when it was a fake. He told me that he was pretty sure that it was the real deal but he just was not sure why the post on it where straight. One of the main reasons that I feel pretty sure that it is real is because of where it was dug. I can't go into a lot of details here but it is not the kind of place that you would find a replica belt plate.

 

[genlee]

Yeah I caught my self after I posted. Sorry for my not reading all the post.

Well I for one am glad I it is real.

John

 

[creskol]

I don't want to cast doubts if the plate is in fact real, but, I think I may have found its origins which suggest otherwise.

Civil War Buckles and Breastplates: Confederate or Union

Plate is all the way at the bottom of the page. I have copied copied various segments from it for the photo below.

 

[terpfan]

I don't want to cast doubts if the plate is in fact real, but, I think I may have found its origins which suggest otherwise.

Civil War Buckles and Breastplates: Confederate or Union

Plate is all the way at the bottom of the page. I have copied copied various segments from it for the photo below.

Great sleuth work, creskol, but I really don't think this replica is a match. The font of the "C" is different. I am no expert, but my vote is that the found plate is in fact real. The hooks may have a slightly different shape as well. Great find!

 

[creskol]

Great sleuth work, creskol, but I really don't think this replica is a match. The font of the "C" is different. I am no expert, but my vote is that the found plate is in fact real. The hooks may have a slightly different shape as well. Great find!

The only problems I have with it are the hooks, and the fact that there is no matching plate in Mulinax's book on Confederate buckles, no matching plate in Kerksis book, and no matching plate in Keim's book, at least that I could find. The only place I have seen hooks of this nature has been on reproductions.

 

[Rockfshr]

wow, very nice.

 

[screwynewy]

The only problems I have with it are the hooks, and the fact that there is no matching plate in Mulinax's book on Confederate buckles, no matching plate in Kerksis book, and no matching plate in Keim's book, at least that I could find. The only place I have seen hooks of this nature has been on reproductions.

If there is overwhelming proof that this is not CW period then I will gladly give in to it. As terpfan pointed out the C is definitely different on my plate than the replica. If someone is going to the trouble to make a replica wouldn't they base it on an existing example? And the last and most important thing is that the plate that I dug has a patina that can only be achieved through many years of exposure to mineralized soil. If you could hold it in your hand you would know that had to have been buried far longer than the companies that make replicas have been in business.

As I said, I'm definitely open minded so keep coming with the information.