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RARE PLATE - MODEL 1881 ENLISTED CARTRIDGE BELT
PLATE w/ MODEL 1885 MILLS INFANTRY CARTRIDGE BELT:
Fresh out of an old collection, this Model 1881
Cartridge Belt Plate is without doubt the most difficult
of all of the US Army’s cartridge belt plates to acquire
for your collection. The M1881 Plate was designed and
manufactured by the Mills Company and was purchased by
the army to supplement lagging arsenal productions. Die
struck of thin brass, these plates were not particularly
robust to begin with and in the process of
manufacturing, the tongue was brazed on to the back of
the plate, which further weakened the brass. The
brazing process resulted in the unforeseen side effect
of annealing the brass which resulted in these plates
being particularly fragile and hence easily damaged in
use in the field. The rate of mortality of these plates
has resulted in very few in existence today and many of
those that do exist are damaged or show evidence of a
field repair.
Such is the case with this M1881 Plate. While having
suffered from the normal failure of the tongue
separating from the body of the plate, this plate still
retains far more of its original form than is usually
seen. The US in the oval is undamaged and the full
profile of the plate remains, save a very minor part of
the right edge as can be seen in the photographs.
Evidently the tongue on this plate broke away and was
silver soldered back onto the plate. The balance of the
plate, to include the belt bracket on the plate body and
the matching catch is full form and intact, and
certainly very displayable particularly in light of the
rarity of these plates. See American Military and
Naval Belts, 1812-1902 by R. Stephen Dorsey, pages
273 and 379, and American Military Belt Plates by
O’Donnell & Campbell, page 562 for more information on
these plates.
The plate is mounted on a Mills Infantry Cartridge
Belt. Full length, with all 45 cartridge loops intact,
this belt is a nice match for the M1885 plate with an
even khaki coloring overall. The belt exhibits some
wear and evidence of use, with some minor scattered wear
to the lips of the cartridge loops, but certainly not to
the extent that the loops are damaged, weakened or
torn. There is no fraying or wear to the edges of the
belt and the correct four brass grommets are present and
intact along the center line on the left side of the
belt for mounting the M1873 Bayonet. The right end of
the belt still retains the brown polished cotton
binding, while the left end shows some wear and has lost
its binding. Overall this is a respectable belt, and
again makes a nice match for the plate.
In spite of the wear this is still a very respectable
and desirable set due to the rarity of the plate.
Seldom do these plates surface on the open market and
once this one disappears into another collection it is
unlikely it can be easily replaced. $1650
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