_USNM 60468-M (S-K 224). Figure 254._ [Illustration: FIGURE 254] This is another typical stock pattern with the eagle-on-shield device surrounded by 13 5-pointed stars as the center ornament. It is cast in brass in two pieces. An example of this plate, on a belt, formed part of a cased Sharps rifle outfit displayed at the 1960 National Rifle Association meeting in Washington, D.C. WAIST-BELT PLATE, MUSICIAN, C. 1850 _USNM 60499-M (S-K 255). Figure 255._ [Illustration: FIGURE 255] The musician's lyre has never been strictly a military ornament, being widely worn by civilian bands; thus, this plate cannot precisely be identified as military or nonmilitary. Unlike most plates of this type and period, the entire piece is struck in brass rather than cast. WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1850 _USNM 60485-M (S-K 241). Figure 256._ [Illustration: FIGURE 256] The letters "T C B" on this brass-cast plate open wide the doors of conjecture as to interpretation. Possible combinations range from Trenton City Blues (if such a Militia organization ever existed) to Troy Cornet Band, a nonmilitary unit. Plates such as this can seldom be positively identified. WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1850 _USNM 60478-M (S-K 234). Figure 257._ [Illustration: FIGURE 257] As in the case of the preceding plate, the letters "H R" on this specimen cannot be specifically identified. Similar unidentified plates in the national collections have the letters "S O I" and "P B." WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1850 _USNM 604167-M (S-K 323). Figure 258._ [Illustration: FIGURE 258] This plate is known both in heavy metal stamping and in thin, cheap brass. Examples of the latter type appear to have been struck in the period of the 1890's from a die then 50 years old. A plate similar to this one has been excavated from a Civil War battlefield site. A stock pattern, the design was obsolete for issue to Militia before the Civil War, but it is known to have been continued almost to the end of the century for use by groups such as secondary school cadet corps. ¶ The shoulder-belt plates worn in the 1850's were little changed from those of the preceding decade. In the Regular Establishment the shoulder belt and plate for officers had been discarded in favor of the waist belt for carrying the sword, but Militia officers--bound by no regulations--continued to wear the shoulder belt. Enlisted personnel wore at least one shoulder belt, and in many cases used two belts, which crossed, one belt carrying the cartridge box and the other the bayonet and scabbard. Mounted Militia sometimes wore the saber on a waist belt and the carbine cartridge box on a shoulder belt. It is interesting to note that the custom of using elements of state seals on waist-belt plates was not followed to any great extent in the embellishment of shoulder-belt plates except in the Southern States. CARTRIDGE-BOX-BELT PLATE, SOUTH CAROLINA, C. 1845(?) _USNM 604451-M (S-K 598). Figure 259._ [Illustration: FIGURE 259]