French Second Empire M1860 Shako Plate, 43rd Regiment

Original era manufacture. A very handsome all fire gilded, brassshako plate as worn on the leather M1860 French shako. The plate measures 3.5x4.5 inches with a threaded screw post on its reverse. Pierced numbers 43 at the bottom, Lille district, 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corps. Normal age and wear. During the American Civil War,several thousand of the French 1860 shako were imported to the US for use by the Union Army but fitted with a US pattern eagle and rosette.