FP1503     CS artillery, another example 
 
Tongue keeper 65.1mm, wreath keeper 63.9mm, wreath height 48.9mm

Source:  This buckle was submitted to me for evaluation to purchase, by a collector with a positive reputation.

Editor note:  This buckle was nicely aged, this is a patina to kill for.  Although presented to me by a reputable collector, he told me he had found this at a flea market, a source that would not be considered reliable.  In my opinion, this plate matches F1013, I rejected it and sent it back to the seller.  

Further note:  At the time I asked Gary Williams about this plate.  He said that he did not make it but that Butch Brown knew who had.  Now after seeing it show up in jaglady ebay listing, and on civil warfakes.com it is obvious that it was made by Hanover Brass, and apparently a good many of them have been aged and marketed including this one.  Butch Brown dug the original plate from which this was copied.  Butch has now submitted his buckle to be photographed for comparison.  Note that the details are the same but the measurements are different.  Why did Gary Williams claim he did not make this buckle and why did he imply that Butch was involved in the faking.  This appears to be yet one more bold faced Gary Williams lie.  To those of us that are not part of Gary Williams inner circle, and who try to collect authentic plates, these lies seem to be a dime a dozen, is he telling the truth, did he tell the truth on this buckle, or for that matter any of the three artillery patterns now analyzed on this page?  The evidence seems to suggest otherwise.  I wonder if he is telling the truth on anything.  You be the judge, I present the evidence.

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P1971     Confederate tongue and wreath buckle, CS, keepers and wreath are plain artillery style, square proportions when clasped, cast, Confederate wartime manufacture., this is the original plate.  Buckle depicts "CS" and is a two part tongue and wreath plate used in the Confederacy.  This style is noted for the unusually tall proportions giving it the appearance of nearly square proportions when both halves are assembled together.  It was adapted from the earlier Federal style artillery plate, also featuring a plain unadorned wreath, but which featured much smaller rectangle proportions.  Plate is thick casting, tongue disc bar is curved behind the disc, wreath has a channel.   Plate measures:  tongue keeper 66.8mm, wreath keeper 66.4mm, wreath 51.2mm.   Recovered:  Culpeper, Virginia by Butch Brown. Ref: Mullinax Expanded Edition, Plates 066 or 067. Courtesy, the collection of Butch Brown. Authenticity note.  This is the original plate dug by Butch Brown.  Gary Williams, Hanover Brass, was allowed to copy this, a regrettable decision.  Now there are many fakes of this piece floating in the market, see the Fakes section of this website for an example.  This is the original from which Gary Williams has made his many fakes, so if you see one of those floating around out there it is not going to be real, this is the real one.

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Here is the plate Gary Williams admits to making:

F1013    CS "Artillery" 2 piece Belt Buckle manufactured by Hanover Brass (Plate 067)

"This reproduction CS Artillery Belt plate is a MUST for anyone who enjoys civil war belt buckles. It is cast in red brass and as close as you will get to the original. A rare belt plate. Artillery style. Note how the S is positioned . The CS was positioned individually in the sand mold causing the letters not to be straight. Marked as a reproduction. Wear or display."

Source: ebay auction by jaglady00 3/12/06 "CS "Artillery" 2 piece Belt Buckle Plate Item number: 6611643287" 

Editor note: "jaglady00" is Hanover Brass, items sold as reproductions

Additional photos and text posted on civilwarfakes.com, (Gary Williams webpage): 
"Photo # CS2P12 Plate 067 (Artillery Style) CS Two Piece Belt Plate 65 x 76/wreath ht.48. High copper content. Original dug by Butch Brown who still has it. Note the crooked S. The foundry crafter pressed a little off into the sand mold on most of these plates. There are a lot of helpful flaws in this plate to use."

Editor Note:  Noteworthy is the crooked "S" which was crooked in the original.  There are quite a few distinct casting flaws in this buckle that are showing up in other examples, the most obvious are the two casting sprues on the back of each keeper, as well as various other air bubbles, etc. 

Gary Williams explanation,  (civilwarfakes.com Photo # CS2P12) 

Plate 067 (Artillery Style) CS Two Piece Belt Plate. 65 x 76/wreath ht.48. High copper content. Original dug by Butch Brown who still has it. Note the crooked S. The foundry crafter pressed a little off into the sand mold on most of these plates. There are a lot of helpful flaws in this plate to use.

Hanover Brass a third pattern     

F1347      CS two part artillery style buckle
  
Picture submitted by Wallace Markert

Editor note:  My understanding is that the ownership chain of this buckle is:
Robert Sandridge
Dennis Cox
Terry Hammonds
Wallace Markert
Don Biles
Larry Hicklen (consignment seller, plate not purchased.

This buckle was initially traded at the Richmond show several years ago, Dennis Cox brought it to the show, and at the end of the show, it was owned by Markert and was under negotiation by Biles.  Biles then bought it soon after the show.  It was extensively analyzed at that time.  Several independent opinions were obtained from collectors at the show including, Mike O'Donnell, Steve Mullinax, Larry Hicklen,  Lewis Leigh, Harry Ridgeway and others.  In addition, Gary Williams was present at the show and he assured several of these collectors that he had not made the buckle and that it was a good piece.  Specifically, Steve Mullinax requested that assurance as a condition of his due diligence before he would agree to prepare a letter authenticating the buckle.  

In 2007 Don Biles consigned it to Larry Hicklen, Hicklen then photographed the Mullinax letter and endorsed it.  The picture of the letter was taken from Mid Tennessee webpage and is submitted by Wallace Markert.

Don Biles is now claiming that he has information that the plate is bad, here is his assertion:

"I have spoken with Gary Williams and he has confirmed making it. Prior to and Since speaking with him, I have also received pictures, letters, documentation about this plate, the history of it, where it went after Gary's manufacture, additional contact info on ownership, etc. I have spent a lot of time researching the facts on this bogus plate.

11) Here are the facts: a) It was made by Gary Williams and I have a letter in writing stating such. b) The plate was made from a master. The master has the same casting flaws as this fake plate. c) Nature would allow for 2 maybe 3 identical casting flaws, but certainly not over 9 visible in pictures alone."

Gary Williams has posted the following posts on his civilwarfakes.com forum:

"Artillery CS 2-piece
Posted By: Gary Williams <Send E-Mail> Date: Friday, 18 May 2007, at 7:23 p.m.
I think you should study CS2p55 page 6 and plain cstp34 page 4 before you buy any for sale. compare the casting flaws on both buckles and read the information several times."

"Re: Artillery CS 2-piece
Posted By: Gary Williams <Send E-Mail> Date: Monday, 21 May 2007, at 5:58 a.m.
In Response To: Artillery CS 2-piece (Gary Williams)
You may not think you can see how they are the same but that Artillery buckle on the site for sale is made up from cardboard letters. It is a fake and it was made for a person that i will name in court if it goes there. I don't care if you have a letter from Jesus it's fake."

"Fakes
Posted By: Gary Williams <Send E-Mail> Date: Saturday, 2 June 2007, at 5:48 a.m.
Ridgeway is now saying that John Turner, Sandridge who he just put on the list and Mullinax is a crook, and on and on. I knew from the start that this $12,000 fake buckle would go to court. It needs to go to court and there will be a lot of other dealers there also. This relic business is full of every kind of fake and big bucks are being made from them. When you tell a couple who are never wrong, they explode. Both just made a bad call on a buckle sale and a long time collector had to return the money. The buckle was looked at this week by one of the best in the relic collecting business and said it was 100% good. The two that said it was fake said I faked it. There you go." 

Gary Williams explanation,  (civilwarfakes.com Photo # CS2P55) 

Plate 066/068 (Fantasy) ( Artillery Style Two Piece belt Plate.) 67 x 76/wreath ht.52mm. My son made this CS Artillery two piece by cutting the CS out of cardboard and gluing it to the plain center. We did this before I copied an original for a master pattern. The flaw is the letter style. Also on the plain wreath, there are vice marks at the bottom of the belt bar. The person filing the original wreath put a little to much strength on the vice and marked the belt bar. Look closely and you will have no problem seeing this. It is also on the Plain Artillery two piece I cast because it is the same belt plate used to make this CS . Very few of this type were cast but I have seen one sell for a lot of money. Never was one like this one. I cast the Artillery CS now from my master made from an original. This buckle has been aged but only for display. The color will come off if handled a lot. It is in the Charles Burnette collection. 

Editor note  I should point out that this fake appeared on civilwarfakes.com  well after the controversy surrounding this plate became public.  Evidently he had not wanted too much to be known about this fake prior to that. 

Gary Williams seems to be saying now that he made this buckle after all.  He has not specifically named who marketed it for him, but presumably that is Bob Sandridge (that is not confirmed at this point).  The plate was not marked in any way, is previously aged, is not disclosed in his red catalog and although there is an example on civilwarfakes.com webpage now, this was not posted until about November 2006, which is years after it was produced and sold.  Civilwarfakes.com webpage has a clear admission that it was made by Gary Williams (actually Bubba made it if that somehow makes a difference) and anybody can readily see that there is nothing to distinguish it as a repro, certainly no GW marks of any kind, and it is nicely aged.  It would be hard to imagine this "dug" plate being produced for any other purpose than to be a fake.  Gary Williams will no doubt contend that he sold it as a repro (no doubt the distributor buying from him knew it was a fake), but it seems to be pretty clear that the plate was prepared in a manner that this buyer could easily sell it to an ususpecting buyer in the collecting community as an authentic piece.  Further GW had a chance to expose it as a repro when it was being considered and authenticated by the collecting community at the Richmond show, but chose to give it his blessing, it was then accepted by the collecting community.  The piece was carefully evaluated at that show, and as is the practice for a rare and unusual piece, it was shown to a number of collectors, all examinations came back positive and several people have witnessed Gary Williams giving it his blessing..

So is Gary Williams the innocent and unknowing maker of a simple repro, or was this piece made for the purpose to defraud (ie fake), and marketed by the fakes ring of GW, his son Bubba, and partner Bob Sandridge?  You be the judge!   

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