Original Civil War Union NCO/Enlisted Eagle Sword Belt Plate Recovered At Balls Bluff Certified By The Gettysburg Museum Of History

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Original Civil War Union NCO/Enlisted Eagle Sword Belt Plate Recovered At Balls Bluff, Virginia Certified By The Gettysburg Museum Of History. These plates were adopted in 1851 and were the standard sword belt plate. this rectangular plates were cast with the “arms of the U.S.” eagle with spread wings bearing a U.S. shield on its chest, clutching arrows and olive branch, and holding a ribbon reading, “E Pluribus Unum in its beak. Underneath is a wreath in silver (missing in this example) and overhead is a band of stars with a cloud behind and rays of the sun above. The wreaths and stars were often given a thin silver wash that seldom survives and many collectors assume these are issue enlisted men’s plates, which are in fact those with the less detailed die work and inexpensive, but resilient, nickel silver applied wreaths. Officers purchased their own equipment, almost always through private military goods dealers, and the quality varied. In this case, the plate shows a very nice stippled background as well as excellent detail to the eagle motif. Recovered at Balls Bluff, Virginia in the area where  Cavalry action was. Very good combat used condition.  Sword plate buckles this nice are very difficult to find and only come from old collections. 100% guaranteed to be authentic Gettysburg Museum certified, museum COA provided.    Also note when browsing our web site there are several pages of items, at the bottom of the list look for other page numbers. Scarce! A nice relic Sword belt plate. DO NOT MISS THIS!