Old 1960s NAVAJO Silver Concho BELT BUCKLE RARE NEVADA 999 COIN Gold Nugget 94gr

An exceptionally fine vintage Navajo sterling silver featuring a VERY RARE 200TH ANNIVERSARY NEVADA 36TH STATE BATTLE BORN 999 FINE SILVER COIN

“Second-Phase” concho-style belt buckle, c.1950’s-60’s

This one is a real classic beauty; a very finely and traditionally-crafted large Navajo Second-Phase style oval concho-type buckle. It is referred to in that manner because the buckle has a similar oval shape with a scalloped and perforated outer edge and a closed center as did the Classic-Period 2nd Phase Navajo silver conchos made at the turn of the 20th Century, from around 1950-1960s The unknown silversmith who made this buckle really knew his business well; he began by melting down a quantity of American or Mexican silver coins and cast them into an ingot-silver “slug” from which he then hammered out and shaped to form the body of the buckle. When he was satisfied with that, he then beautifully repousseed, chiseled and stamped the various decorative designs into the buckle and scalloped and perforated the outside edge. A final and beautiful artistic touch is the perfectly crafted tufa cast silver tang which holds the belt strap.

craftsmanship evident in this piece is reminiscent in certain ways of the fine work of one of the great C.G. Wallace Trading Post’s all-star Navajo silversmiths, Roger Skeet Sr. (1900-1959) and it is certainly possibly that Skeet might have been the buckle’s maker, but we will never really know. The belt buckle features a VERY RARE 200TH ANNIVERSARY NEVADA 36TH STATE BATTLE BORN 999 FINE SILVER COIN with a gold nugget

The body of the buckle measures a very impressively-sized 3”⅝ in width, 3” in height and it is approximately 3”⅛ in depth. It will accept a belt strap of up to 2”⅛ in width. The buckle weighs a comfortable and easy-to-wear 94.7 grams  and it is in excellent original condition with some age-appropriate scratches and nicks from wear.

It has a fine lustrous almost glowing patina.

This piece is an outstanding Second Phase concho-style buckle that is second to none in terms of beauty and quality.