O’Donnell and Campbell illustrate this pattern as Plate 724 in American Military Belt Plates. It is die-struck from a rolled brass plate and would originally have been gilded. The motif is the Louisiana state seal of 1802-1876 showing a nesting pelican feeding her young, with the scales of justice overhead, just under the beginning of the state motto “JUSTICE,” with “UNION AND CONFIDENCE” at the bottom, all nicely placed on pebbled ground with a raised, twisted, rope border. The face has a pleasing, even brown patina that shows some subdued gilt in recesses, and preserves sharp detail. The two wire loop fasteners still in place, soldered to the back, which shows a fair amount of thin subdued gilt and just some small spots of verdigris, which do not appear on the face.

O & C note that the original die for this plate is dated 1858, which would allow some examples a Civil War provenance, but that most are postwar and were advertised in a military goods catalog as late as 1900. [sr] [ph:L]

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