Book Description

Accoutrement Belt Plates: Exposed is a reprint of a catalog of fake belt buckles, allegedly created by the famed Tiffany & Co., that is believed to have first appeared sometime during the late 1970 ́s or early 1980 ́s. The original book was designed for one purpose - to deceive and confuse naïve collectors who were purchasing fake Tiffany & Co. brass and bronze belt buckles with a passion. These buckles appear to have been imported from England, in great quantities, as part of one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated upon the American antiquities market. Accoutrement Belt Plates contains photographs of most of the bogus buckles (and buttons) that were created. Buckles are identified by name and an esoteric cataloging number has been assigned to each - most likely as part of an attempt to make these buckles appear as genuine antiques. Disturbingly, many modern collectors of these buckles still believe that they date back to the 1800¿s. Since their first appearance, these fantasy items have fetched outlandish prices in flea markets, gun shows, and swap meets across America. None of these buckles; however, were made until the 1960 ́s, at the very earliest. As to be expected, the company credited with originally printing this book, ¿Tiffany & Co. of London, England,¿ never existed - the real Tiffany & Co. is based out of New York. This new edition is presented in an attempt to halt the bogus belt buckle scam and the seemingly never ending promotion of them as genuine antiques. A preface has been added to provide readers with a bit of background on the buckle scam, photographs of some of the buckles mentioned but not contained in the original are presented for the first time, and the book is now fully indexed. While the original edition was part of a well planned scheme, it has been reproduced here to provide collectors with one important tool: it remains the only known record that lists most (but not all) of the bogus buckles and is therefore, valuable to those with an interest in them.