This original excavated Civil War Confederate two-piece interlocking belt buckle is the classic “tongue and wreath” style used on sword belts. The two elements were found together, fit well, and have a matching patina on the back, with the face showing just a tad more brown on the tongue. This is a well-made buckle, with the disk showing a narrow raised rim and the letters very well defined and bearing serifs at the top. The “S” may have had one at the bottom that was lost in the casting or the finishing, but the end of the “C” was clearly plain. The letters still show striations from the filing to smooth them off to set them off better against the pebbled ground of the disk. The letters are thicker than the finely shaped “Richmond” style, but not squat. The middle of the “S” is pretty much horizontal, similar to Mullinax (1991) 058 and 059. The lower right of the “S” shows a small nick that might be from a casting flaw- a similar flaws shows just to its left in the pebbled ground.

The details of the wreath are deeply, but rather crudely cast, but clearly show a top and bottom ribbon tie. The gutter on the reverse of the wreath was very well finished. The bar for the tongue does not step down at the disk. The plate was clearly worn for some time. The belt loops show just a bit of the bowing typical from the stress of extended wear on a waist belt but the rim of the gutter shows wear where the tongue crosses it when the two pieces are buckled.

There are few more unambiguously Confederate belt plates than the two-piece interlocking CS plates, which are a collecting category of their own.  [sr] [ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!