 (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 November 24, 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 154 to 156
"CS" oval buckle, "Breckinridge" solid cast
Original is solid cast copied from the die stamped version. Hooks are round straight hooks, very little tapering. The name "Breckinridge" applied to these buckles is not a contemporary term.
F1112 CS cast Breckinridge, made by
Hanover Brass
"This reproduction CS Breckinridge Belt plate is a MUST for anyone who
enjoys civil war belt buckles. It is cast in red brass and as close as you will
get to the original. Marked as a reproduction. The original of this belt plate
was dug from a Tennessee battlefield."
Source: ebay listing by jaglady00 6/1/06 "Solid Cast Breckinridge
CS Belt Buckle Plate Item number: 6633174308"
Editor note: "jaglady00" is Hanover Brass, items sold as
reproductions
Additional text posted on civilwarfakes.com, (Gary Williams webpage):
"Photo # CSGP13 Plate 154 Solid Cast (Breckinridge) CS Oval Belt Plate. 52
x 78mm. Original from the John Turner collection. This is one of the most faked
plates I reproduce. There are several on line now for sale. You can tell this
plate by the flaws on the face and all that are cast by me have these same
flaws. Also, the original has the back hooks broken off and the CS troops tried
to repair it with solder. The back end of the "C" is rubbed out. You
can see where I cleaned the master pattern from the back edge of the
"C" to the end of the plate. I smoothed out the rough solder marks and
placed my two hooks on the edge of the "C". There should be no reason
for dealers to be buying this plate as original. All have this flaw and all are
too small. The fakers can straighten out the body curve in the plate to make it
look larger. It will still have the same marks on the face and also the same
flaws in back of the "C". This belt plate should never be a problem if
you look for the flaws that are easy to see. Remember, there is one original out
there."
Editor Note: My understanding is that the "original" will be splattered with this solder, but the two hooks will be missing. I have not seen the original but there are a bunch of these plates out there with this fuzzy stuff on the back. Some of the fakers are doing a fair job of milling out the back but if you look close it can be seen.
F1106 Cast Breckinridge
This piece measures 54.6mm x 80.5mm
Editor note The owner of this piece submitted this piece to me for inspection. It was bought from Peter Shaw, Hanover Virginia on ebay. I told the owner that I believe this piece to be a repro. This matches the Hanover Brass example in every detail except one hook has been removed to make it look "used". I will also note that the measurements are showing a little larger than the Hanover Brass published example. I am told that some fakers will slightly flatten the piece and that will "spread" out an oval piece and give the appearance of larger measurements. I will note though that the measurements are not going to be very meaningful on any oval buckles because the rounded shape means the point of measurement is too irregular to be reliable.
F1067 "Breckinridge" solid cast
CS oval beltplate
"Confederate Solid Cast Breckinridge Oval Waist Belt Plate
Beautiful example of this rarity 8 plate measuring 55mm x 80mm. This one was
excavated in Selma, North Carolina, one of the last camps of the Army of
Tennessee.
Slick chocolate patina on face, all three original hooks and some dirt still
clinging to the reverse. A superb example throughout."
Source: webpage listing
Editor note: The seller of this plate is a respected dealer and he obviously feels this plate is good. Many of the tiny flaws in this plate seem to match the other questioned examples and the Hanover Brass repro, all pictured above. The size seems to match the other repro example noted, and both of these are considerably larger than the the measurements stated by Hanover Brass. I cannot explain this apparent discrepancy in measurements. At this point I do not have a hard copy of the HB casting to compare to but will photograph and measure it once I do get a copy to work with. In the meanwhile, it is my respectful opinion that this plate cannot be shown to be authentic.
F1161 Another
example of cast Breckinridge
Source: Picture supplied by dealer who listed this on his webpage,
then de-listed and returned to his source because he concluded it is a fake.
Unfortunately measurements are not available. This picture was obtained
with permission.
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