 (Confederate Adjutant General button) |
The Civil War Relicman, |
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Winchester, Virginia USA (changed hands 70 times in the Civil War!) |
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I am a collector buying and selling authentic Civil War Relics |
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This page updated December 06, 2006 |
Disclaimer: by clicking onto this page you are expressly accepting the terms of the disclaimer explained fully on the fakes main page.
Fakes, reproductions,
replicas, Confederate plates 054 to
056
"CS" two piece buckle, coin style
Original is noted for small "coin style" disc inside an oversized wreath, crude casting, the tongue bar is very small and often is broken.
F1028 Coin Type" CS 2-Piece Belt
Buckle manufactured by Hanover Brass
"This reproduction CS "Coin Type" style Two Piece is a MUST for
anyone who enjoys civil war belt buckles. It is cast from red brass. Associated
with the Western theater. Has original look"
Source: ebay auction by jaglady00 3/15/06 ""Coin Type" CS 2-Piece Belt Buckle Plate Army of Tennessee Item number: 6612514951"
Editor note: "jaglady00" is Hanover Brass, items sold as reproductions
Additional photos and text posted on civilwarfakes.com, (Gary Williams webpage):
Photo # CS2P17 Plate 054 (Coin Type) CS Two Piece Belt Plate 43 x
79/wreath ht.51mm. GW stamped in the back. From the collection of John Turner.
Study the detail flaws and you will spot a fake with no problem.
F1062 Coin Type" CS 2-Piece Belt
Buckle
Taken from a webpage: "C.S. " coin type "
two-piece sword buckle. Excellent example of a rare Western Theatre buckle. No
repairs or alterations."
Editor note: The following information is from Hanover Brass: "That CS two piece with the coin style CS tongue is a made up buckle by me before I got a copy of the original coin style. Charles Burnett dug the original wreath that has the cut out inside the wreath. I made up the tongue and used a copy of his wreath. This buckle never was from a original."
Additional photos and text posted on civilwarfakes.com, (Gary Williams webpage):
"Photo # CS2P18 Plate 054 (variant) (Coin Style) CS Two Piece Belt Plate 43 x
79/wreath ht.50mm. Before I cast the previous Coin style CS I made this belt
plate from nothing but wood letters glued on a round disc and a copy of a wreath
that Charles Burnette dug. I did a very nice job and it served the purpose until
I copied an original. I see this buckle on several sites as original and for a
couple thousand dollars. Well, take it home. It never was. The wreath is still
in Charles Burnettes collection. I am sorry to say but there are several other
buckles with the same history to follow. Thats what this site is for. Original
or Reproduction?"
Editor Note: Because civilwarfakes.com is a subscription webpage, I have not reproduced this photo "CS2P18" on this webpage, however, that picture clearly shows the flaws of the cut out wreath and other casting imperfections in the tongue. Since this pattern was made up from parts or wood carving, this variation of this pattern is technically a "fantasy" This means that no examples with this cut out wreath or this exact configuration of letters will be authentic. It should be noted that the coin style is frequently found and there are numerous authentic examples out there, but none with this variation will be authentic.
Eventually I will get a clean copy of the Hanover Brass example, at which time I will measure accurately and photograph for this page. If anybody has one, please let me photograph it.
P1487 CS two part buckle, "coin"
style
This buckle made a brief appearance on my webpage, here is an example of a plate
that gets a mixed review.
Measurement: keepers 47mm, wreath height 51mm.
Editor Note: This buckle made a brief appearance on my webpage, here is an example of a plate that ultimately got a mixed review. This one was coated with a troublesome green coating which was clearly covering something, either a damaged patina, repair or telltale repro casting marks. The wreath shows an area "cut out" which is similar to some repro wreaths otherwise noted. This piece was rejected and returned to the seller, because of questions of this piece and the fact that the green coating had simply obscured too much of the details needed to authenticate this piece.
This buckle was returned to my source. I later saw this buckle after it was passed back further in the ownership chain, and it became the source of considerable discussion at a show. It was discovered then that the tongue, which is probably authentic, is a repair. The neck literally broke apart during the discussion exposing the epoxy gluing it together. The seller was so sure it was not repaired that he put pressure on it before witnesses to prove his point, and to his disgust it broke exposing the epoxy. The conclusion now is that the tongue is authentic but repaired.
The wreath does show a cut out area similar to some of the repros. The well on the wreath is thin, so if the casting is poor quality, the melted metal simply did not fill this area of the mold leaving this space. This spot is on the opposite side of the wreath from the similar flaw in Hanover Brass repros, so this is not a Hanover Brass repro. This is a detail that is very easy to misinterpret so I post it here so it can be seen. We still have the problem that the green coating is covering important details, but at this point I tentatively conclude that this plate may be real, both the wreath and the tongue, but did have an undisclosed repair.
As a side note, it is ok to collect and sell repaired pieces. Certain repaired pieces do look better than the piece not repaired. The key is disclosure. If you know it is repaired and the price so reflects this flaw then there is nothing unethical about buying or selling a repaired piece. Often this green patina is applied to pieces to obscure repairs. It can also be used to obscure damaged or overcleaned patinas. These applied coatings can be easily removed, some with water but if not with water, paint stripper will get it every time. In this particular case, I asked the seller for permission to remove the coating, I wanted to see the actual metal as a condition to purchase. The seller did not want his buckle to be so altered so I rejected it. You need to be very careful not to alter a buckle that may be returned, most sellers, including me, will not accept a return that has been altered in any way. So if examining the details under these troublesome coatings is a condition of the sale, you need to get the sellers agreement before you remove the coating. The coating needs to come off to truly authenticate the buckle, and had it been removed in this case, the repair would have been obvious.
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