August 18 & 19, 2020 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/18/2020
This wonderful, bullet-struck New York belt plate is ex-John Henry Kurtz and Charles "Hap" Hazard collections. Early Civil War volunteers from New York usually entered service clothed and equipped by the state. The oval SNY belt plate signifying the State of New York was the standard waist belt plate for their enlisted infantrymen. This one was bullet struck on the face of the plate on the letter "Y." The projectile did not fully penetrate the plate, but bent and tore the brass facing and punched out a section of the solder fill. The soldier would have been lucky to have escaped with his life. The plate retains its fastening hook and two round belt studs on the reverse, which indicate early war manufacture. (J.H. Kurtz sale 2009 to Charles Hazard.) CONDITION: Very good, as excavated. Greenish patina to right. More brown to the left near he strike. A very displayable battlefield relic clearly showing what it meant to be "under fire." SR
Item Dimensions: 5 - 1/2" x 4 - 1/2".