Yes the star is the other shape I was thinking about. I don't recall seeing a shield--must be a rare one. I have only seen the smaller ones being posted and the one I found with a heart here in northern NJ in the suburbs obviously had nothing to do with the Civil War. I liked the "ladies of the night" theory as it added some "color" to the heart plates. They all look feminine to me so men wearing them on their boots with cute little patterns that they'd leave in the soil sounds a bit counter-intuitive to me. Who says women coming into the camps especially the ones requiring payment didn't lose them in the camps?? Can you please post some examples of heel plates in both the small and large size? The dug boot I saw posted here was a woman's boot.
