_USNM 604458-M (S-K 605). Figure 209._
[Illustration: FIGURE 209]
The generalities that apply to all "stock pattern" insignia are
equally valid in referring to this brass-struck plate with a 5-pointed
star as its sole ornament. Dating its period of design poses no
difficulty, for it contains the panel with wreath inside an edging
border characteristic of the 1840's. The star device would have been
appropriate for Militia units of Maine ("North Star"), Texas ("Lone
Star"), or for dragoon units that took the star as a distinctive
insignia. Although it may have been worn by Texans, it is doubtful
that it was made originally for them. The design enjoyed a long life,
and plates of this general pattern were struck well into the 1880's.
The major difference between earlier and later specimens is that the
early ones were struck on rather heavy sheets of copper-colored brass,
with fasteners consisting of a tongue and heavy wire loops brazed to
the reverse. The later plates have a bright brassy color, are struck
on thin brass, and have the loop and tongue soldered rather than
brazed.