[NATIVE AMERICANA] Southwestern Style Coin Concha Belt

Southwestern-Style Leather Belt with United States Coin Conchas and a Rosette Buckle. Second half of the twentieth century.

A distinctive belt of dark brown leather mounted with nine domed half-dollar conchas, alternating the eagle reverses of Walking Liberty and Kennedy half dollars. The substantial rosette buckle displays a Morgan-dollar reverse encircled by eight Washington-quarter reverses, their rounded forms arranged like petals against a scalloped backing.

Concha belts became an important form of Southwestern adornment during the nineteenth century, particularly through the work of Diné silversmiths. Their development drew upon several sources, including Southern Plains metal ornaments and the silver fittings of Spanish and Mexican equestrian equipment. The example offered here adapts the familiar arrangement of metal plaques on leather through the direct use of recognizable American coin designs.

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