US Plate and Buckle real?

[wdjensen123]

Hi Hunters,

Here are 2 more pieces dug up ca 1910 by the boy in Iuka, Mississippi.

Any idea if they are real? I want to put the three of them up on Ebay if they are real.

The buckle seems to have some 3 riveted arrangement embedded in the lead. Is this a common buckle (84.44mm x 55.84mm) and plate (64.84mm)? Is collecting in this area advanced enough that there are rarity books for the different artwork that appears on them?

I can't make out the inscription on the back of the buckle: FOMI B or something.

Sincerely,
Bill Jensen

wdjensen123 at hotmail dot com

Redmond, Washington

[Antietam]

Both plates are real. The breast plate appears to have been excavated. The rivets on the back are actually part of the bar which holds the hooks together and is one of the less common hook arrangements used. They are showing through the lead filler as the contractor did not fill the plate with adequate lead to cover them. This factor neither adds nor detracts from the value of the buckle. The "letters" which appear on the back obviously meant something to the soldier who scratched them in however the meaning is vague ... perhaps a name ... who knows. It will not add greatly to the value of the piece.