North Carolina State Seal
By John Sexton · Originally published September 2017 · p. 39
Ask The Civil War Appraiser By John Sexton North Carolina State Seal Dear John: My name is Anthony Amick. A couple months ago my wife bought me my first metal detector. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve found in just a couple of months detecting right in my backyard! First I found a heavily corroded 1773 Virginia half penny, then the next week I found what seems to be a rare North Carolina state seal militia officer’s sword belt buckle plate! I am almost 100% sure this piece is authentic. I found this beautiful N.C. buckle plate near the 1773 Virginia half penny. I am very interested in learning what this rare, dug plate is worth and any other information you might have about it. Any references you can direct me toward? Are you may be able to tell me how many of this style plate exist in excavated condition? Anthony Amick Dear Anthony: What you found is just the center decorative “button” that attaches to the tongue of a two-
piece sword belt plate. This is a very scarce and desirable buckle. The device represents the antebellum North Carolina state seal circa 1850-1860. State seal buckles of other states are more common and North Carolina is probably the rarest of all Civil War Southern state buckles. Normally, the button portion would have little value, but in this case your die-struck centerpiece presents nicely even though excavated. Examples of complete buckles with this device are shown in all the major books on Civil War accoutrement plates and belt buckles, including page 163 of William Gavin’s Accoutrement Plates North and South 1861-1865, (1963). It is also pictured on page 385 of Sydney Kerksis’s Plates and Buckles of the American Military 1795-1884, (1974). The most recent and best book on Confederate and Southern belt plates is Confederate Belt Buckles and Plates by Steve Mullinax (1991), which shows examples of both known manufacturers, J.S.
This picture displays the item’s condition on the day I removed it from the ground. This photo is after the “button” was rinsed.
This picture shows the reverse side. The solder marks show where the “button” was attached to belt buckle’s tongue.
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Smith & Sons of New York and N.P. Ames of Chicopee, Mass.. Your buckle was made by Ames as can be seen by the die variance shown in these reference books. A complete non-excavated example is valued at $25,00035,000, and there are only a handful of examples known. There are also only a few excavated specimens and I am personally unaware of a complete example with both tongue and wreath other than the example owned by well-known Confederate buckle expert, collector, and dealer, Nick Periut of Knoxville, Tenn. Mr. Periut values his complete excavated example between $15,00020,000. I have little doubt that your decorative North Carolina state seal “button” would garner a lot of attention if taken to a Civil War show. It is quite possible in my opinion that someone would pay as much as $3,000-4,000, though dealers would try to buy it for less. John is an certified appraiser with International Society of Appraisers specializing in Civil War memorabilia. He authenticates and evaluates other rare and valuable historic items as well. His website is http://www.civilwardealer.com. He is coauthor of the book Confederate Bowie Knives (2012) by Jack Melton, Josh Phillips and John Sexton, that was published by Mowbray Publishing Inc. Send “Ask The Appraiser” questions and photographs to [email protected].