ELEGANT 1825-1835 SILVER-ON-COPPER US MILITIA CAP PLATE

ELEGANT 1825-1835 SILVER-ON-COPPER US MILITIA CAP PLATE

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$695.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1273-113

For a very good parallel see O’Donnell & Campbell Fig. 625. Measuring 4-1/2 X 3-1/4 in., this plate is die-struck silver on copper, fitted on the reverse with two loops for attachment to a cap. The condition is excellent, with strong detail to the design, no bends, cracks or dings, and the face showing an elegant semi-bright patina, and both fastening loops in place. The reverse shows a deep copper color, and the whole is likely Sheffield Plate, a process invented in the mid-1700s that bonded to a copper base alloyed with zinc and lead, the whole then fired or rolled in sheets, a process replaced by electro-plating beginning in the late 1840s.

The plate has straight sides, four scallops at the top and bottom, the face has a border of two parallel raised ribs 1/8” apart with delicate checkering in the channel between two raised ribs. As O&C note, the eagle is a version of US Army’s 1821 pattern cap eagle, with head turned to the heraldic right, a rather large US shield on its chest, short wings, no tail feathers, and an “E PLURIBUS UNUM” ribbon scroll overhead in an arc with no parallel arc of stars as seen on some versions. O&C also note that officers’ cockades often showed a miniature version of this motif and that belt plates and other militia insignia continued to use this version into the 1840s.  [sr][ph:L]

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