Puppy Paw US buckle with leather buffer

[Abomb]

Hello,

          This 'Puppy paw" Union buckle was picked up at an estate sale some years ago.

  It appears to be NOS with a leather buffer attached to the back. 

     I do not know why it it is there but I have never seen another one. 

 

 

[M24 Chaffee]

I wasn’t aware of these with the leather pads either. They were discussed on a recent thread on the CivilWarTalk.com forum. I’ll include the link to that thread. https://civilwartalk.com/threads/opinions-on-us-belt-buckle.200872/
They were introduced in 1840 through around 1860 and protected the uniform and white buff leather belts from lead staining. 
 

Frank