Question about "civil war " toe plates???

Southern Brass · Oct 4, 2013

I have found several old toe plates that some on here refer to as "civil war toe plates. Are they actually civil war era or were they produced before and after the war? Were toe plates only used by soilders or could anyone have them on their shoes

One of the plates I found has Nov. 20, 18?? on it so some were dated I guess

kuger · Oct 4, 2013

many have a stamped patent date of 1858...so yea,pre date the C.W..........I have dug close to 100 of them and never have been anywhere near a CW site :thumbsup:

TheCannonballGuy · Oct 5, 2013

Kuger is correct on both counts:
1- That form of shoe-toe-protector was invented before the civil war, and was patented on November 29, 1859 (see date-marking in the photo below), and continued to be used for several decades after the civil war era.
2- Used primarily on civilian shoes.

kuger · Oct 5, 2013

..thanks for the correction CBG,I thought '58...Pre-CW,none the less

TheCannonballGuy · Oct 5, 2013

Kuger, the reason for the confusion might be that the curly shape of the number 9 in the date-marking could cause it to be mistaken for an 8 -- which could easily happen if the brass was somewhat corroded.

But if somebody has one that is definitely marked 1858, I'd very much like to see it, so I can add the knowledge to my relic-info database.

kuger · Oct 5, 2013

TheCannonballGuy said:
Kuger, the reason for the confusion might be that the curly shape of the number 9 in the date-marking could cause it to be mistaken for an 8 -- which could easily happen if the brass was somewhat corroded.

But if somebody has one that is definitely marked 1858, I'd very much like to see it, so I can add the knowledge to my relic-info database.

ugghhh,your gonna make me go look!!! :laughing7:

well,out of about 15 out of around 50 I have handy are marked,and I will darned if I can find one that is a definate "8",a couple sure do look like it,but could be"9".I have a couple that everything is crisp clear but that last number!!!I will look deeper..pretty much answered my own question......the clear Patent is Nov 29 so I doubt there would be a Pat on the same date in subsequent years.....1859 it is