This is the standard Union infantry enlisted man’s belt plate of the Civil War. Adopted in 1839, these plates are stamped, rolled brass with a lead solder filled back that anchors the fastening studs and belt hook.

The plate was excavated, with the face showing a mixed light brown and grayish-white patina. The letters are well defined. The edge has some roughness and we see a hairline at left from the edge to the left of the “U,” but which is narrow and stable. The reverse shows as the same light brown and grayish white, but showing some of the pleasing underlying even gray of the fill. The belt hook and studs are in intact and in place. You can just make out the outline of the brass “horizontal-Y” in the fill. The studs are the round (“puppy-paw”) form used early to mid-war, with some makers introducing the arrowhead studs in 1862, but others continuing the production of the “old style” well into 1863. The fill shows a little unevenness at the edges, but no substantial losses.

This is a basic plate in any Civil War collection in excavated or non-excavated condition.    [sr] [PH:L]

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