The devices on this cast-brass plate comprise the arms of the City of Philadelphia, and its form and pattern, especially the floral design of the outer ring, place it in the 1840's. The piece is bench-made and carries on the reverse many marks of the file used in its final assembly. It must be considered a stock pattern.
WAIST-BELT PLATE, SOUTH CAROLINA, C. 1840
USNM 604241-M (S-K 397). Figure 204.
Figure 204
Somewhat larger than many plates of the period, this brass specimen carries the South Carolina palmetto device. Such plates also were struck in copper and silver plated. It obviously was a stock pattern sold to several different units. The rectangular plate with the vine-patterned border was a stock pattern in itself, with many different devices being added in the center as ordered. This is one of the many pieces of insignia too often called Confederate but which ante-date the Civil War by almost two decades.
WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1840
USNM 604388-M (S-K 535). Figure 205.