Eagle Breast Plate. Genuine?

relichound

Corporal
Joined
May 17, 2007
Location
Maryland...'bout 55 miles south of Gettysburg.
I got this at a local Gettysburg battlefield auction in 2007, that had some fine genuine items in it for sure.
The one I was not completely convinced about was this one. If it had been an excavated one
I would have know by the patina, or the lack of genuine patina. I bought a musket there,
and a fine excavated State of New York plate there plus. Everything else was good, so why should I
doubt their Eagle Breast Plate? Well, maybe I should have questioned it! This one has gilt on the front.
What do you all say? Good, or not? Thanks for your help!
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Looks a little to clean for my taste and its hard sometime to tell from photos and not holding it in my hand as there are some nice repops out there. One way to check is see if the loops are iron or steel. Repops are steel.
 
I think you are good here, it appears to be a Dingee sold piece, these were subcontracted to John Pittman and many were not marked on the obverse. I would also go with @ucvrelics recommendation and see if the loops are steel or iron as some of the repops are struck from the original dies, though not aware of this one being reproduced.
 
Thank you, ucvrelics. I should have been more careful when I bought this., but everything else
was good! When I see expensive things that are obviously right, I feel that I can trust the seller.
Maybe this time I should not have.

One day ages ago I was in a Virginia relic shop with a collector friend, and in a display case there
was a plate that like this one did not look old, because(I guess) it was not excavated. I told my friend with me
that it must be a fake, but the owner heard me, and told me I was wrong about that plate!! It
had a pedigree too! A known past, he told me. It made it real hard to be sure one way or the other.
 
Thank you, Package4. OK, I did what you all told me, and looked with a magnifier at those loops on the back of the EBP.
They are dark for sure, and I see a bit of rust. Iron? I am not sure. I saw something else
too, and that was with the magnifier I could see many old looking small scratches on the lead back. I may luck out
and this may be old, but next time I will be more careful and not make the purchase if it is like this one.
 
How would one determine iron versus steel? This is a great tip. I’ve always stayed away from plates and buckles...
 
Thank you, ucvrelics. I should have been more careful when I bought this., but everything else
was good! When I see expensive things that are obviously right, I feel that I can trust the seller.
Maybe this time I should not have.

One day ages ago I was in a Virginia relic shop with a collector friend, and in a display case there
was a plate that like this one did not look old, because(I guess) it was not excavated. I told my friend with me
that it must be a fake, but the owner heard me, and told me I was wrong about that plate!! It
had a pedigree too! A known past, he told me. It made it real hard to be sure one way or the other.
The only way to be sure, it seems, is to dig it yourself...
But heck, even that's not 100%...
So right Tom. An acquaintance buried a repo Mississippi buckle near Mechanicsville Virginia after carving his initals in the back. It was dug a few years later and featured in a local hunters magazine. I once dug a repo Virginia button in a fire pit with some other civil war period tin. I was in hog heaven until I got home and inspected it further.
 
How would one determine iron versus steel? This is a great tip. I’ve always stayed away from plates and buckles...
Dumb suggestion but try this: If there is a farrier (horseshoe service) or blacksmith in your area ask them. I talk to the blacksmiths and as I understand it certain types of iron doesn't rust even if its outdoors all the time. Maybe I misheard, but STAINLESS STEEL CAN RUST 😉
 
So right Tom. An acquaintance buried a repo Mississippi buckle near Mechanicsville Virginia after carving his initals in the back. It was dug a few years later and featured in a local hunters magazine. I once dug a repo Virginia button in a fire pit with some other civil war period tin. I was in hog heaven until I got home and inspected it further.
I have a friend that dug a CSA buckle in the roots of a blown over oak tree on a battlefield here in Mississippi. We all thought it was real until about 2 years later and discovered it was a repro...
 
Amazing. You mean he dug it near the battlefield - right!
LoL. My Virginia button was in a fire pit and they even took the trouble to of making it look like it had been in a fire.
I have a friend that has bought and sold relics for 60+ years and he told me some of the repos are so good he has trouble being sure.
I purchased a Louisiana plat at a (non civil war item) auction years ago for pennies not sure if it was real but didn't really care since I paid so little for it. Took it home, looked through my books and it matched. I told my friend who buys and sells. He asked me to tell him about the hooks, and I did and he said, fake because they didn't have that style hook......eventhough my book showed it with that style hook. He's good, real good, so I assume the book is wrong. But I lost nearly nothing on the deal.
But to dig one! People have to be nuts to put a repo in the ground and probably not ever hear about it again. Especially a burnt VA button in a fire pit with other civil war trash.
 
I have a friend that dug a CSA buckle in the roots of a blown over oak tree on a battlefield here in Mississippi. We all thought it was real until about 2 years later and discovered it was a repro...
You can't count out a CS veterans loss as they visited many battlefields after the war and Bannermans had the original molds to the Atlanta plate and made repops for the CS Vets. Here is one of mine that LP gave me a few years back.
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Thank you, ucvrelics. I should have been more careful when I bought this., but everything else
was good! When I see expensive things that are obviously right, I feel that I can trust the seller.
Maybe this time I should not have.

One day ages ago I was in a Virginia relic shop with a collector friend, and in a display case there
was a plate that like this one did not look old, because(I guess) it was not excavated. I told my friend with me
that it must be a fake, but the owner heard me, and told me I was wrong about that plate!! It
had a pedigree too! A known past, he told me. It made it real hard to be sure one way or the other.
Ask them about this "KNOWN PAST" vs "PROVEN PAST" And you get to see a "hissy fit" live!
 
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