_USNM 604145-M (S-K 301). Figure 74._
[Illustration: FIGURE 74.--Specimen in Valley Forge Chapel Museum,
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.]
This buckle is similar to the one (shown in fig. 73) that belonged to
Capt. Charles O. Collins, but it is different in that the letters
"U.S." are enclosed not by a laurel wreath but by a sprig of laurel on
the right side and a sprig of palm on the left. The 1841 uniform
regulations specified such a belt plate for officers of the Corps of
Engineers, but with a "turreted castle, raised in silver" rather than
the letters "U.S." This places the probable date of manufacture of
this specimen in the 1840's.