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UNIQUE “US” PLATE – POSSIBLY A CUSTOM ARSENAL SHOP
BELT PLATE: Certainly one of a kind, this cast
plate featuring a bold “US” characters on a stippled
field surrounded by a raised border, appears to made of
bronze. The quality of the workmanship suggests it may
have been made at one of the arsenals or ordnance
depots, and if indeed the metal is bronze, it may well
have been cast from metal salvaged from one of the gun
tubes of the captured Confederate and Spanish cannons
the Ordnance Department recycled. The arsenals, in
particular Rock Island, were known to create special
trophy pieces, such as paper weights, from the salvaged
bronze as keepsakes for the arsenal employees, Ordnance
officers and special visitors, and this plate may well
be one of those pieces.
While there are no markings on the plate other than the
“US” on the front, the weight, quality of the casting,
design and finish all strongly indicate this piece was
made by a skilled craftsman. The curvature of the plate
suggests to me that this may have been intended to be
used as a belt plate, but was never finished with the
belt loop and prong for using it on a belt. The plate
measures 3 ¼” long and 1 ¾ “ wide, and just over 1/8”
thick.
While the history of this unique interesting plate is
quite likely lost to the passage of time, there is
little doubt that it was produced, and kept through the
years, as an important keepsake to someone who served
with the US Army.
$100
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