Is this a real CS buckle

[outtair]

A friend called me to verify a buckle a man wants to sell. This man bought it a the Mobile, Al Flea Market. I do not have a buckle book so I can not say for sure. The workmanship is very good and the rim ridge is solid like the US oval buckle. I have not seen a real CS like this one, can anybody help?

 

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[johnreb1980]

I hate to say it,but it is a fake. You have to watch that flea market stuff real close. I know there are good finds at them , but you just have to be very careful and know what your looking at,Jonathon.

 

[outtair]

Jonathon,
Thanks for the reply, I thought it was fake. Too many things different than any other CS buckle I have seen, also the workmanship too perfect.
Thanks,
Tim

 

[MichaelB]

The hooks on the back are wrong. It is a fake.

MichaelB

 

[outtair]

Thanks Michael, I told the guy yesterday. Lucky for him he had the guys name and he guaranteed it so he was going to take it back to him today.
Tim

 

[DetectorMoe]

Where can you see a real one at, front and back?

 

[gsxraddict]

that's the most common fake cs buckle you'll see...

 

[NHBandit]

Where can you see a real one at, front and back?

You can't. They never made a Confederate buckle of this style. I went to many flea markets 4 years ago when the wife & I spent the Winter down there in Mobile and the surrounding area. I have never seen so much FAKE Civil War stuff in one place in my life. Especially cool were the "battle flags" that generally sell for around $750+. Very cool buttt... Once you realize that nearly every flea market & antique shop has one for sale you come to the conclusion that someone is very good at faking them. I did get a US buckle & belt while there at an estate auction and it has been verified genuine by several folks who know their stuff. MichaelB you might remember we talked about it back then. You had planned on going to that auction but didn't go. Holy back from the dead thread ! I just realized this was originally from 2008. Well anyway here is the front & back of a genuine US buckle. There were several variations to the exact font style due to being produced by several different manufacturers.

 

[gunsil]

NH, I don't think your US is correct either. It has the same flat hook as the bad CS, and I have owned over forty US oval plates and none of them had a flat belt hole hook. Surely isn't original leather, they came on brown buff leather. They've been making repros since the 1960s and there are thousands and thousands of them out there.

 

[NHBandit]

NH, I don't think your US is correct either. It has the same flat hook as the bad CS, and I have owned over forty US oval plates and none of them had a flat belt hole hook. Surely isn't original leather, they came on brown buff leather. They've been making repros since the 1960s and there are thousands and thousands of them out there.

Several experts including some that are members here who looked at these very same pictures 4 or so years ago when I first posted them disagree with you but that's ok. You're certainly entitled to your opinion. I have also found this exact style in books I have looked at back when I first bought the buckle. The leather may not be Government issue but it's surely from the period. When I went to fold it to put it in my display case it was so hard & brittle it broke in half. Your post got me curious though and so I've been looking at Google images of other US buckles and I see ALOT with the very same flat style hook. Many of them are being sold, or were sold by reputable well known dealers. I actually had to look at quite a few before I found any that did not have a flat hook...

 

[gunsil]

I should have said too flat, wide, and thin. You too are entitled to your opinion, and if you look at google fake US oval buckles you will see one with a similar hook which the owner believes is fake. I hope for you that it is real, but I wouldn't buy it or a similar one. There are a lot of variations, but the real ones I have owned have had thicker, narrower single hooks, and/or hooks with beveled edges. I only have a couple left, but I recently moved and most of my junk is still packed away in unmarked boxes or I'd take a few photos.

 

[Davers]

Thread back from the Dead

First
I don't know too much about Plates.
I tend to research ( in depth) an item once I dig one .

I def agree about the CS being a fake/repo.
& The US looks good to me. ( I know even less about it's leather.)

gunsil

You got the reply.
So what do you say now?

 

[Davers]

I should have said too flat, wide, and thin. You too are entitled to your opinion, and if you look at google fake US oval buckles you will see one with a similar hook which the owner believes is fake. I hope for you that it is real, but I wouldn't buy it or a similar one. There are a lot of variations, but the real ones I have owned have had thicker, narrower single hooks, and/or hooks with beveled edges. I only have a couple left, but I recently moved and most of my junk is still packed away in unmarked boxes or I'd take a few photos.

Sorry gunsil . I type real slow .
Are you calling your plates junk? LOL

 

[JR in Hohenwald TN.]

Fantasy plate or novelty. No CS plates were made with hooks like that. Before the internet those things were floating all around after fakers would doctor them up. Value around $5.00 or makes a great buckle for a test garden.

 

[OverKill]

I doubt you'd find a real one at a flea market...

 

[Gaspipe]

I'll tell you this a friend of mine has had an amazing cival war collection for decades. The last 10-15 years he has become so leary of all these plates he rarely buys them anymore. He was telling me about the degrees forgers go to fake these plates , it is amazing and he also says some of these guys work together to make them sound authentic with the old line "dug by so and so on private property with permission" . So I'd be very careful even with the more common US plates.

 

[gunsil]

The best US plates to get are the ones with the "puppy feet" on the back instead of arrow hooks, and the ones with the maker's name impressed on the back. These are rarer, and more costly, but have not yet been faked. I have seen ones that were fakes with the maker's name on the back but if you know what to look for the fake maker's marks are fairly easy to tell from the real ones.