WAIST-BELT PLATE, MASSACHUSETTS, C. 1840 _USNM 60497-M (S-K 253). Figure 201._ [Illustration: FIGURE 201] Bearing elements of the seal of the State of Massachusetts, this plate likely was a stock pattern sold to many officers. In construction, it is a composite piece similar to the plate for officers of the Corps of Topographical Engineers (see fig. 87 and p. 45) with the device applied to the inner oval. Because of its unusually striking appearance, it would have been a most appropriate type for staff and field officers, and possibly general officers. WAIST-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK, C. 1840 _USNM 604126-M (S-K 282). Figure 202._ [Illustration: FIGURE 202] This plate, struck in poor-quality, medium-weight brass, is of a stock pattern bearing the eagle-on-half-globe device and the motto "Excelsior" from the New York State seal superimposed on a panoply of arms and colors. This type of belt plate, with the device on the inner panel and a wreath between the inner and outer borders, is most characteristic of the 1840's. More than ten different plates are known that vary only as to the design of the inner panel; some contain New York State heraldic devices, and others contain variants of the usual eagle design of the period. WAIST-BELT PLATE, PHILADELPHIA, C. 1840 _USNM 604390 (S-K 537). Figure 203._ [Illustration: FIGURE 203] The devices on this cast-brass plate comprise the arms of the City of Philadelphia, and its form and pattern, especially the floral design of the outer ring, place it in the 1840's. The piece is bench-made and carries on the reverse many marks of the file used in its final assembly. It must be considered a stock pattern. WAIST-BELT PLATE, SOUTH CAROLINA, C. 1840 _USNM 604241-M (S-K 397). Figure 204._ [Illustration: FIGURE 204] Somewhat larger than many plates of the period, this brass specimen carries the South Carolina palmetto device. Such plates also were struck in copper and silver plated. It obviously was a stock pattern sold to several different units. The rectangular plate with the vine-patterned border was a stock pattern in itself, with many different devices being added in the center as ordered. This is one of the many pieces of insignia too often called Confederate but which ante-date the Civil War by almost two decades. WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1840 _USNM 604388-M (S-K 535). Figure 205._ [Illustration: FIGURE 205] The eagle device on this silver-on-copper specimen closely resembles that on the cap plate of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry (USNM 604964-M) and may possibly be the matching belt-plate worn by that organization. Such an eagle, however, would have been a stock pattern of the manufacturer, and sold to many different units. A very unusual aspect of this particular eagle are the three arrows held in the left talon: two of them point inward, the third outward. WAIST-BELT PLATE, ARTILLERY, C. 1840 _USNM 604106-M (S-K 262). Figure 206._ [Illustration: FIGURE 206]