This excavated Model 1839 US cartridge box plate has well defined thick-and-thin lettering and a raised outer and inner rim. The plate shows as green and brown with some grayish-white residue. There is some brown staining at center and right from the rusting through of the iron wire embedded in the lead solder filled back to form the attachment loops. The letters have a finely dappled surface. The rim shows a small piece broken off the lower left.

The reverse is a mix of light brown and cream-colored white with some of the gray lead solder showing through, with rust stains and some of the iron wire showing at right. The fill is obviously gone from the missing portion of the lower edge, with some short, shallow losses to either side of it.

Cartridge box plates were regulation issue until the middle of 1864 when new pattern boxes omitted them as a cost-saving measure and substituted a US in an oval embossed in the leather. Even so, many (perhaps most) soldiers continued to carry the older pattern, which served not only as an ornament but to keep the flap of the box down even if left unlatched.  [sr] [PH:L]

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