This rectangular belt plate bearing the arms of the US within a wreath was introduced in 1851 for wear on sword belts. This covered officers, of course, but also enlisted men in the cavalry and even infantry sergeants who would officially be armed with swords. Officers’ plates were commercially purchased and usually of higher quality and finer workmanship with a silver wash given the wreath, etc. The enlisted variety, like this, was provided with a separate nickel, or “German Silver,” wreath sweated on the plate. This is one of the earlier patterns, not as tall as the mid-war plates, showing the marks of additional tips of the wreath that had been put above the eagle’s wing tips, but are now missing, creating a three-piece wreath that was superseded by one-piece wreathes. Even so, the plate looks great with a nice, untouched, aged patina and bears on the reverse the mating number “887” used to keep it with its hasp after hand finishing and fitting until the two pieces could be attached to a belt. In this case the belt follows the wartime form of using an adjusting hook on one side, but the use of brass wire points to an 1870s date for the belt, which was added to the plate for display. We note a couple of inspector initials on the inside of the leather holding the hasp, which does not have a bench number, is a bit taller than the plate, and expectedly fits a bit loose, though the belt itself has good color, decent surface, and is flexible.  [sr][ph:L]

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