Early US Militia Eagle Belt Buckle

[BrothersDetecting]

Found this yesterday at a spot we have been hitting hard the past few weeks. We have pulled out four New York Seal Civil War Buttons, two Marine Corps Civil War Buttons, and one GAR Button. This was a big surprise because there is not many high tones left at the spot. I got a 83 hit on the AT Pro at two inches and thought for sure it was a can. At around four inches down a large piece of copper popped out which was bent in half. I slowly unfolded it and there was a large eagle staring back at me. It is about three inches long and two inches wide. If anyone knows what the age of this is, it would be a great help.

 

[Bucknut]

Whoa! Great save!

 

[del]

sweet buckle , i'm pretty confident its post Civil War though. I take it that it was found in a farm field ??I'll be able to tell you more about it in the morning.

 

[Skamaniac]

Nice, whatever it is. I'm looking forward to learning more about it.

 

[MangoAve]

The 1850 Militia buckle didn't have the outstretched wings. The closest thing I could find is a bicentennial buckle. It even has the long stretched claw and shield, but lacks the stars and banner.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDUyWDYwMg==/z/j38AAOSwQItTzwVD/$_35.JPG

 

[del]

I am thinking its around 1870's to 1880's era buckle because of the tongue style , I would love to see a close up of where the other attachment meets the plate though. Maybe even a side view showing the buckle's thickness too.

Dan

 

[OxShoeDrew]

Nice piece of history right there :clapping:

 

[BTV Digger]

Great finds, and I agree with Dan that from the back it looks like it's from the later half of the 19th century. No patent date visible I'm assuming? Congrats nonetheless.

John

 

[BrothersDetecting]

I will try to get some close ups tomorrow. And the reason I am thinking it's earlier is because of the simplistic design, and the eagle design. This is an earlier 1800s eagle design and towards the end of the 19th century they started making more ornate things because that was the fashion in the Victorian period. Maybe I am wrong, but the only exact one I can find online says 1825... Who knows if that person even knows what they are talking about though...

 

[del]

Maybe I am wrong, but the only exact one I can find online says 1825... Who knows if that person even knows what they are talking about though...

Please post a link to that online info BrothersDetecting , I would like to view that just for reference. It is an older type eagle look design but sometimes later on they used some of these on more modern accoutrements , hope i'm wrong and it is older .

Dan

 

[wisconsin digger]

Great find, always wanted to do some relic hunting like that. Great find

 

[The Rebel]

Awesome Find! Looking forward to seeing what date it's from!

 

[BrothersDetecting]

http://lookoutmountaincivilwarrelics.com/belt-buckles--plates.html

This one says 1825, but you can't believe everything you see on the internet...

 

[del]

http://lookoutmountaincivilwarrelics.com/belt-buckles--plates.html

This one says 1825, but you can't believe everything you see on the internet...

so yours has the exact backing attachments as this one , because I did find an example of this type in one of my books but the attachments on the back were a bit different from the one you posted the link to . This was my reason for asking a close up of the attachments and where they fastened to the plate itself .