Introduced for wear on sword belts in 1851, this pattern was regulation throughout the Civil War for all officers and enlisted men carrying swords and thus shows up on artillery and cavalry sword belts, NCO belts, etc. This officer’s version illustrates the major difference between commercial plates officers were obliged to buy for themselves and those issued to enlisted men by the army. The die strike is characteristically of better quality than an issue plate and more detailed. In this case, the background is stippled as well. And, as is typical of commercial plates, the wreath is cast integrally with the plate, where issue plates have them made of German silver (nickel silver) and separately applied. The irony is that the higher quality silver wash applied to the officer’s version usually wore off with use. On this example, however, some tarnished silver is still evident in the more recessed portions of the leaves of the wreath.

This plate is in very good condition. There are a few age spots at the eagle’s beak and at right at turn of the wing and wingtip at right, but the overall tone is a nice medium aged brass. There are no bends or dings. The side bar is in place. The reverse shows minor age staining and a few light scratches. The medium width tongue is in place, the width being less an indicator of early versus late war than a maker variation. The bar is marked with a simple XXXII, which is a “bench number” to keep it matched up with the proper hasp since they required hand finishing for appearance and fit before being passed on to the leather-working part of the operation for mounting on a belt.

There are lots of variations in these plates, making them an area to concentrate on for the collector. They are also a basic part of a belt plate collection or officer’s display. Needless to say, if your ancestor was an officer in the Union army, he wore one of these.  [sr]

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