Insignia Civil War Insignia

[TSmith.TN]

Greetings all,

I came across this collection of what I believe is civil war insignia. Could anyone help me identify them? Also, how can I verify if they are original or reproductions? If original how rare are they and possible value? Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Salterr]

Greetings all,

I came across this collection of what I believe is civil war insignia. Could anyone help me identify them? Also, how can I verify if they are original or reproductions? If original how rare are they and possible value? Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Hello, I can help you with these if you'd like.

 

[TSmith.TN]

Please do. Any info would be great

 

[TSmith.TN]

Please do. Any info would be great

 

[Salterr]

The shoulder board is Masonic and is not civil war or artillery related due to its color. Shoulder boards of the civil war were stitched on or tied on with string resembling a shoelace. A civil war artillery board will only have bars, be blank or have an eagle on them.

The epaulette circlet with an 2 also is a reproduction the silver bullion is not aged and there should not be grosgrain ribbing in the field. They come flat and domed but the flat black backing is a modern material used on newer items.

The USA badge is a reproduction for the same reasons as the circlet and lacks depth. Is should say US not USA. Badges of that size should have metal stiffeners and brown polished cotton as a backer.

The two badges that have a 3 and the multi colored one are not civil war but still may be a real insignia from some foreign country.

There is hope for the grenadier patches. Although not originally designed in America, this design was adopted for the ordnance department pre war. These would probably be coat tail insignia but looks good in the picture. You want to see multiple layers the red and white layer THEN the stitching and then it has remnants of a paper backing which would also be correct in most cases.

The rifleman horn is hard to determine. I do not like the back construction and the flat black backing. That appears on modern pieces and your other pieces too. The front also has a black material running in between the horn loops and that's another modern trait found on reproductions pieces all over eBay. But I will say horsesoldier and uniondb have an identical one just like yours with that material but the back has the multi layer construction. The bullion looks good though so I'm on the fence. It was common to trim the insignia like that and the material looks to be felt or velvet which is correct too. I'm leaning toward the side of caution with that one but don't want to be a downer on your pieces either. You might have something good there.

https://uniondb.com/products/xn-officers-rifleman-insignia-o58pzctbins257

 

[TSmith.TN]

Thank you for your expertise. Would you happen to know the rarity and value on any of the original pieces?

 

[TSmith.TN]

Thank you for your expertise. Would you happen to know the rarity and value on any of the original pieces? I know fakes are pretty worthless

 

[Salterr]

Thank you for your expertise. Would you happen to know the rarity and value on any of the original pieces? I know fakes are pretty worthless

The grenadier patches are common enough actually. There is no way for me to definitively say these are precisely civil war as 1) they're coat tail insignia commonly found on 1832 coats and 2) other countries still use the design currently. There are known examples on officers hats with black backing during the war but I don't think just by a picture they are cheap reproductions. They vary so much I've seen them as cheap as $90 and as pricey as $450

For the rifleman insignia if you want to go off of the dealer sites $350 ish in this formation. The 1858 oval shaped insignia like what I shared is usually listed in the 6-700 range for rifleman insignia. One dealer even insanely had one at 1500 years ago. Maybe not so insane on his part since it was purchased! I would suggest having a long time reputable dealer look over your pieces if you are selling. Nothing worse than having your reputation tarnished if I'm wrong with my assessments. Given that most of the items are fake I have doubts about the other pieces being real. Original pieces have a certain feel, smell and weight to them that you can't describe if you're not holding them.

 

[TSmith.TN]

Thank you for all the help. Much obliged and appreciated.