Confederate Imported 1-headed 3-Pc Snake Belt Plate Buckle Dug Gettysburg PA

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Confederate Imported 1-headed 3-Pc Snake Belt Plate Buckle Dug Gettysburg PA :
$467.00

Excellent-condition original Confederate 3-piece \"snake\" belt buckle. There are quite a number of varieties of snake buckles. This pattern with the very detailed single-headed snake is among the rarest and most sought-after by collectors. I recovered this one in 1978 on private property adjoining the Gettysburg National Park, in an area occupied by Confederate troops during the battle. There\'s not much I need to say about the Battle of Gettysburg. It was the largest and bloodiest battle of the Civil War and ever fought on the North American continent. The first 3 days of July, 1863 are part of American culture. Gettysburg was also the turning point of the war; afterward, Lee\'s Army of Northern Virginia would be on the strategic defensive and never again capable of launching an offensive campaign. From a military perspective, barring a political resolution, Confederate military defeat became only a matter of time. These snake buckles were made in Great Britain. They weren\'t imported on their own, but came together with the belts, cartridge boxes, bayonets and other accoutrements which accompanied the fine British Enfield rifles which were prevalent in the Confederate Army. The buckle is in excellent condition. The belt loops are slightly stretched, but that\'s all. The snakes on this type are unique because there\'s a front (top) of the snake showing small, detailed body scales and the top of the head. The back shows the snake\'s underbelly, with wide scales and the bottom jaw. The pieces of original belt leather are stable but extremely hard and brittle. The Riker display/ storage case is included. I will ship this free by Priority Mail. I do my best to ship the next business day after receiving payment, but in some instances I might get delayed a day or two. Tracking information is always posted.IF I RECEIVE A REASONABLE OFFER FOR THIS ITEM (\"Reasonable\" means about half the market value) BEFORE IT HAS ANY offerS, I\'LL ADD A \"BUY IT NOW\" OPTION AND SELL IT IMMEDIATELY. So- if you want to make sure you get it at a good price, or that it won\'t suddenly disappear because it\'s been sold, either contact me with your offer or place your offers early. Once the first offer I\'d placed, Buy It Now cannot be added. PLEASE DON\'T WASTE MY TIME AND YOURS WITH RIDICULOUS LOWBALL OFFERS, OR OFFERS AFTER THE LISTING HAS offerS! On the current regular retail/ show market, this buckle would easily sell for $800 to $900. Probably more, since it came from Gettysburg. However, I\'m not a retail dealer who bought it from who-knows-who, who dug it who-knows-where (maybe legally, maybe not) and has to turn a big profit on it. I\'m a private collector and old-time detectorist selling artifacts out of my own collection. I\'m not a retail dealer who buys and sells for a living. I\'ve put a VERY LOW opening offer amount on here with . I\'m retired from the US Army with over 30 years of honorable active service, and rated as a Permanently & Totally Disabled Veteran due to wounds and injuries during my career. I also hold a Ph.D. in Military History with post-doctoral study in Military/ Battlefield Archaeology. Following my military career I taught these subjects at the university level as well as engaged in a great deal of archaeological field work until my military disabilities forced me to retire again. I also began metal detecting as a boy way back in 1961- 57 years ago. About 2 years ago I began selling some of my extensive private collection to clear some of it out and supplement my retirement income. buyers/ buyer must be aware that this is an excavated historical artifact that is over 150 years old. It is delicate and should not be handled, carried around, or played with. It has already been as cleaned, washed, brushed, etc as it should be, according to professional / academic archaeological preservation standards. No additional \" cleaning \" of any type should be undertaken. Further, any alteration to the condition of the item, no matter how slight -- under Federal law and the policies of both and Paypal - - voids all return / refund options. I refuse to do business with anyone who is a retail, show, or online seller/dealer in Civil War artifacts. I\'ve refused to have any dealings with any of those people for over 40 years ( except involvement in their criminal prosecutions or civil cases against them as an Expert Witness) so I refuse to do so on here. Further, I will not provide any additional information as to recovery locations or anything else other than what\'s stated here in the listing. I have a No - Return policy due to disreputable people who pulled various scams or who altered items. However, if a buyer has a VALID reason I will work with you in some cases.

On Mar-24-18 at 03:31:55 PDT, seller added the following information:

NOTICE: It has come to my attention that a few self-proclaimed \"experts\" (in reality, they know next to nothing) on are engaging in criminal defamation and violation of a long string of Policy violations by attacking me in ridiculous, bogus listings, etc. One in particular is especially despicable, and has been doing it habitually on his numerous accounts for a couple of years. He has amassed an ENORMOUS number of Policy Violations because of it. BUT- I\'ve never, ever done business with him! I suspect his motivation is because I\'m competition. Many disreputable, malicious retail dealers and their buddies are infamous for such reprehensible, ILLEGAL conduct. If any buyer or buyer sees such a listing on , please send me a message and let me know so I can take appropriate legal and administrative action. Thank you!