>> $60.00 for a worn belt? Could buy 4 or 5 new belts with that money or more!
Collectors, historians, and restorers will often pay a fortune for patina. Often times it doesn't matter what a "new" something costs, because a particular restoration or preservation project would never allow new parts get anywhere near it.
I'm not saying this particular belt is worth $60.
But I've spent decades working on cars, houses, etc, where the removal of new parts and replacement with semi-worn period-correct parts is both normal and the preferred correct way to do things.