Jump to content

Is this a real CSA buckle?


 Share

Recommended Posts

I took a chance and bought this at a flea market for $40.00. It supposedly came out of an estate sale. I felt at the time that the belt and 2 buttons were probably WW1 era US Army so my reasoning was that there was a chance that the person who wore this might have had a relative who served during the Civil War which is where the buckel came from. The buckle looks like a crude casting with the number 9660 or 0996 on the reverse. I'm aware that these buckles have been copied for a long time. Any ideas?

post-1389-1193350332.jpg

post-1389-1193350345.jpg

post-1389-1193350356.jpg

post-1389-1193350373.jpg

post-1389-1193350387.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you check ebay's completed auctions for confederate buckle you'll find a couple that were dug out of the ground. Their castings look better than the ones in your photos! That one looks very rough, almost like someone cast it with the intent of making it look old.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm very certain that's a fake. But if I saw this at a flea market and was unsure about it, I'd rather be wrong paying $40 for a fake than not paying $40 for a $8000 original.

 

Kurt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The belt and pouch definitly are not US Civil War period as your intuition tells you. I have some serious doubts about the buckle. It is similar to a buckle in Sydney C. Kerksis's book "Plates and Buckles of the American Military 1795-1874 on page 269, but there are enough differences to make me think it is not the same one. While this type of buckle was sand cast which allows for some difference, the differences that it has convinces me that they are not the same. A Confederate Officers buckle of this type should bring at least $6,000.00 or more. I am not up on recent values. It is my gut feeling that this buckle is of recent manufacture.

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I still maintained a large Civil War collection, I owned three of these - one simply consisting of the wreath, the other two complete, no belt. The tongue & wreath officers buckle is probably one of the most commonly faked buckles of the Confederacy. While quality is a factor in determining authenticity in the these buckles, there are other factors to consider. Pertaining to quality, I have seen some very crude CS buckles, as well as some that were just as well made as their Federal counterparts.

 

Because of the high level of copper that is often found in these, as well as metals other than brass, originals often have a reddish brown tone to them, which often sets in after 150 years or so. This clearly does not have this "imperfection".

 

The value in Confederate buckles has actually seen a markable DROP in value, because of all the bastards that are faking these. Fakers have destroyed the market, and the enjoyability in owning a nice Confederate buckle. Even if an original is in hand, you will still have some nit-wit saying that the buckle is not right, thus casting doubt on an otherwise original buckle. These nay saying morons are everywhere from the MAX, SOS, Internet Forums, as well as some "respectable" dealers. If you have an original, hold on to it. I sold mine for a very pretty penny, shortly before the market suffered a blow.

 

This buckle is classic repro. The sparkle of the brass is my first clue. The numbers on the tongue also raise an eyebrow. It looks like someone put together a rig, perhaps for re-inacting. At least the dealer wasn't a rip off artist.

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some public domain pictures. The first two look pretty convincing. FAKE.

 

The last picture illustrates an original CS buckle.

 

Telling the difference can be very hard.

post-548-1193437874.jpg

post-548-1193437880.jpg

post-548-1193437900.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...