50th Anniversary 1967 - 2017
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*Allow 7 - 15 days for me to sand cast, individually finish, and ship your order priority mail. Please do not complain to PayPal if it takes longer for me to mail your order. I do all this custom casting myself and sometimes business is really good to me and it may take longer to mail out but I will mail your order. Each order is made as it arrives, nothing is in stock since there's over 900 buckles from which to choose.
*EMAIL is the only way to contact me. Email me gw44@comcast.net
Civil War Buckles by Hanover Brass Foundry
We have been in the business of casting Civil War Buckles since 1967. We reproduce over 750 various plates. All of our Civil War buckles are crafted from yellow brass and red brass and are sand cast and hand worked much as the originals were during and before the Civil War era. Each is made from a first generation casting, exclusive to Hanover Brass, the ONLY foundry licensed to cast from the original Civil War Buckles in the Maryland - Steuart Virginia Historical Society Museum collections and The Museum of the Confederacy. (Licensed) To answer your question "What is licensed?" , it's when you pay the Museum or the Collector to copy buckles and have it in writing that you can reproduce and
sell the reproductions of the originals. You can read about this casting process in the April 1981 "Vol. 89 . No 2" quarterly Virginia Magazine. The following Belt Plates are reproductions from museums, private collections, and my personal belt plate collection.
We have been in the business of casting Civil War Buckles since 1967. We reproduce over 750 various plates. All of our Civil War buckles are crafted from yellow brass and red brass and are sand cast and hand worked much as the originals were during and before the Civil War era. Each is made from a first generation casting, exclusive to Hanover Brass, the ONLY foundry licensed to cast from the original Civil War Buckles in the Maryland - Steuart Virginia Historical Society Museum collections and The Museum of the Confederacy. (Licensed) To answer your question "What is licensed?" , it's when you pay the Museum or the Collector to copy buckles and have it in writing that you can reproduce and
sell the reproductions of the originals. You can read about this casting process in the April 1981 "Vol. 89 . No 2" quarterly Virginia Magazine. The following Belt Plates are reproductions from museums, private collections, and my personal belt plate collection.
Foundry in the 1800's depicts casting cannon barrels
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Hanover Brass Foundry (GW) in the 1900's casting belt plates.
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April 1981
Virginia Historical Society "The Virginia Magazine of History
and Biography" (Vol. 89 . No. 2) with article
about Hanover Brass Foundry.
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Page 243 - "Mr. Gary Williams an authority
on Civil War belt plates and owner of the Hanover Brass Foundry, recently cast in sand many of the belt plates from the Virginia Historical Society's Maryland-Steuart collection. He and his assistants use a process identical to that used in casting the original plates and the copies thus produced are virtually indistinguishable from the originals. The copies will go on exhibit this year, enabling visitors to the galleries to view the Maryland-Steuart collection in its entirety while the originals, many of them irreplaceable, enjoy a larger measure of security behind the scenes." |
Several of the buckles in the Virginia Historical Society's Maryland-Steuart Collection, Richmond, VA that I used to cast my master patterns.
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R.E. Lee
For all of you interested in commemorating the 150th anniversary of The War Between the States, I have reproduced two very special belt plates on behalf of The Museum of the Confederacy, MOC Richmond, Virginia. They are General Robert E. Lee's and Cavalry Leader J. E. B. Stuart's buckles which are on permanent display at the museum.
The sale of these limited edition belt plates benefits The Museum of the Confederacy. Gen. Lee's buckle is available in either 24kt. gold plate or solid brass. J. E. B. Stuart's sword belt plate is available in solid brass only.
Lee's is a beautiful one-of-a-kind Virginia two piece sword belt plate that Lee wore in many of his photographs and field use. Lee also wore this two piece sword belt plate with his new Confederate uniform for the Appomattox surrender.
J. E. B. Stuart's sword belt plate is reproduced from the Eagle Officer's buckle that he wore pre-war and was wearing when he was mortally wounded during the battle of Yellow Traven. All buckle purchases come with a beautiful display case and documentation from The Museum of the Confederacy. In my forty-four years of sand casting Civil War belt plates, I have now reached my dream of reproducing General Robert E. Lee's buckle! Up until this offer, you could
only see these belt plates behind glass. Now you can own one that is a precise
copy of the original that you can proudly wear or display. If only we could locate Stonewall Jackson's sword belt plate. Hanover Brass Foundry is also reproducing the Confederate Navy two piece (TG - CN) on display in the Museum which is available in the Museum's gift shop and Hanover Brass. You can get all the information about the Lee and Stuart buckles by contacting
The Museum of the Confederacy at 804-649-1861 ext. 55.
The sale of these limited edition belt plates benefits The Museum of the Confederacy. Gen. Lee's buckle is available in either 24kt. gold plate or solid brass. J. E. B. Stuart's sword belt plate is available in solid brass only.
Lee's is a beautiful one-of-a-kind Virginia two piece sword belt plate that Lee wore in many of his photographs and field use. Lee also wore this two piece sword belt plate with his new Confederate uniform for the Appomattox surrender.
J. E. B. Stuart's sword belt plate is reproduced from the Eagle Officer's buckle that he wore pre-war and was wearing when he was mortally wounded during the battle of Yellow Traven. All buckle purchases come with a beautiful display case and documentation from The Museum of the Confederacy. In my forty-four years of sand casting Civil War belt plates, I have now reached my dream of reproducing General Robert E. Lee's buckle! Up until this offer, you could
only see these belt plates behind glass. Now you can own one that is a precise
copy of the original that you can proudly wear or display. If only we could locate Stonewall Jackson's sword belt plate. Hanover Brass Foundry is also reproducing the Confederate Navy two piece (TG - CN) on display in the Museum which is available in the Museum's gift shop and Hanover Brass. You can get all the information about the Lee and Stuart buckles by contacting
The Museum of the Confederacy at 804-649-1861 ext. 55.
Lee Display at MOC
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Lee's Original belt plate on display at MOC, Richmond, VA
Hat worn by Lee
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Hanover Brass Reproduction of Lee's Buckle in 24K gold plate and comes with a custom wood display box.
Post War Years
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Hanover Brass reproduction of Lee's in solid brass bright dipped to show the
detail of the Lee original 
Appomattox Court House, April, 1865
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Buckle worn at Appomatox C.H Surrender
McLean House, Appomattox, VA. April 1865.
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General J.E.B. Stuart
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J.E.B. Stuart display at MOC
Jeb Stuart's display at The Museum of the Confederacy
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Stuart's orginal belt plate on display at MOC
Stuart Statue
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Reproduction Jeb Stuart belt plate cast by Hanover Brass from the original displayed in The Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond,Va.
Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Flag
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Confederate States Navel Officer Wearing CN Two Piece Belt Plate
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Original belt plate on display at MOC worn by Lieutenant William Pickney Mason, Commander of the CSS United States, CSS Beuford, and CSS Virginia II
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Hanover Brass Foundry Reproduction CN Two Piece Belt Plate
Confederate Naval Jack
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Gen. John Bell Hood's Uniform, Sword and Belt Plate on display in The Museum of the Confederacy
Watt House Hill, Gaines's Mill. Hood's confederates charged this hill and broke the Union line.
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Hanover Brass rubber mold to reproduce the silver wreath and Conferate flag of Hood's buckle
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Gen. Hood's original belt plate. Belt plate had applied silver wreath and flag and was imported from England.
THE ADAMS HOUSE STOOD BEHIND THE UNION LINES AT GAINES'S MILL. HUNDREDS OF WOUNDED SOUGHT RELIEF IN AND AROUND THE HOUSE.
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Hanover Brass Reproduction Gen. Hood's Belt Plate
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Slide show of process of casting Hanover Brass Foundry casting of the
Robert E. Lee Virginia two piece Belt Plate
Robert E. Lee Virginia two piece Belt Plate
Hand finished buckles complete the sand casting process.
Jeb Stuart, Confederate Navy and Robert E. Lee belt plates
cast and ready for delivery for the new Museum of the Confederacy location at Appomattox, Virginia.
Jeb Stuart, Confederate Navy and Robert E. Lee belt plates
cast and ready for delivery for the new Museum of the Confederacy location at Appomattox, Virginia.
Below are the sales/reference catalogs through the years. Sales began from word of mouth, store front at my father's grocery store on the battlefield tour route, sales tables at civil war shows and reenactment events. Then we placed ads in Civil War Times, and American History magazines to establish a mail order buckle business. This called for a pictured catalog of our buckles. Now, we offer our museum quality buckles on the Internet. My how things have changed over the years since my meager beginnings of just trying to make a CS two piece buckle, my first in 1967! I appreciate the opportunity to make Hanover Brass Reproduction Civil War Buckles available to you, and I appreciate all my customers.
1st sales/buckle reference catalog 1968
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2nd sales/buckle reference catalog 1970
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3rd sales/buckle reference catalog 1977
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4th sales/buckle reference catalog 1985
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5th sales/buckle reference catalog 1991
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Buckles in the sand ready for pouring. A work day for Hanover Brass Foundry. G W going to melt the yellow brass.
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2150 degrees F to pour the yellow brass.
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