My First Heel Plate (Heart Motif)!!

[Erik in NJ]

Hi! I got out on Saturday for a day or hunting with one of my very good friends--NJLargeCent. He got permission to the grounds of a log cabin house that dates back to ca 1900--not ancient, but any day with nice weather and good company is a treat. The finds were a bit scarce on this property, though we both found a few things.

The best find of my day was something I have been wanting to find for a long time: My first heel plate--it has the three mounting holes and a heart motif. It's on the small side measuring 1-1/2" across its widest part. Ironically my friend Greylock found an identical heel plate the following day. Would love top know more about when these were in use. Mine is missing a chunk, which I don't think I did as there was no bare metal exposed on the edge. I believe it to predate the house, so it may have been done when the property was graded for the house. It was perhaps my deepest item that day!

Other items of note were the buckle with two posts and the escutcheon. There's the body of what appears to be a wristwatch, but I believe it is a toy as the metal is extremely thin. I found a nice looking button, but I believe it to be aluminum and relatively modern.

Also found by me was a large old clock about the diameter of a grapefruit and a Tootsietoy truck and a Lesney Police car (not pictured).

Also pictured are a bridle rosette from my prior hunt and half of a very nice petal (crotal) bell with the name "Parson's [& Smith]" cast into it.

Thanks James for a great day and great company!

 

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[Jyverb64]

Nice finds, I found the same type of heel plate a couple weeks ago.

 

[Greylock]

Our hunts were basically the same just in two different states. You have a lot more of the heel plate and that bell is awesome. Too bad it's only half. Maybe you'll find the other side! Looks like a good day to me.

 

[Wildcat1750]

Nice heel plate and I like the crotal bell with the name on it. The ones that I find usually just have a number 1.

 

[Walk the dog]

Very nice,

 

[Erik in NJ]

Our hunts were basically the same just in two different states. You have a lot more of the heel plate and that bell is awesome. Too bad it's only half. Maybe you'll find the other side! Looks like a good day to me.

Thanks Tom!

But you came home to barbequed pull pork!!


I do like the partial petal (crotal) bell--it's the largest one I have found (a size 4 or 5) and this is the first one with a name cast into it as far as I know. I have been reading up on the heel plate. It seems they are all quite small and there differing opinion about who used the. Seems there are all suits of a deck of cards (hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades) and some say they represented cavalry unit. Others attribute the heart plates to "ladies of the night" as there plates left a sort of calling card in the dirt. I believe they were civilian issue and they could have been used by cavalry units I guess, but the latter story seems very plausible. It's funny that they are all so small, as one would think that cavalry boot heels would be much bigger. I think the jury is still out on this one, but even missing a piece they sell for ca $50 which is amazing! Like I said, this is the first I have found in more than a dozen years of detecting so I was quite thrilled!

We'll have to talk soon about BBQ pork recipes!!

Best, Erik

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks WC! The heel plate putting heart shapes in the dirt seems ironically appropos to your signature!

 

[Steve in PA]

Nice finds Erik. I have found two heel plates with the clover design and would love to find one with a heart design. One of mine came from an 1850s military site in Texas, and the other came from a house site that was active from about 1830 to 1900. I believe the were popular in the 1850s - 1870s. The crotal piece is interesting. I have dug a number of complete ones and lots of frags, especially in the larger sizes, but I have not seen one with those mrkings before.

 

[kuger]

Fantastic pics bud,and great finds!!!I wish there were more hard evidence poving or dis-proving the supposed use of those by ladies of ill repute....I just struggle with that theory.....

 

[Iron Patch]

Are you sure that's an 1856 heel plate? Looks like 58 to me.

 

[Tnmountains]

Fantastic pics bud,and great finds!!!I wish there were more hard evidence poving or dis-proving the supposed use of those by ladies of ill repute....I just struggle with that theory.....

Nice finds Love that heel plate. Kuger and I thought you knew how to track!!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Nice finds Erik. I have found two heel plates with the clover design and would love to find one with a heart design. One of mine came from an 1850s military site in Texas, and the other came from a house site that was active from about 1830 to 1900. I believe the were popular in the 1850s - 1870s. The crotal piece is interesting. I have dug a number of complete ones and lots of frags, especially in the larger sizes, but I have not seen one with those mrkings before.

Hi Steve, Thanks for the kind words! Yes I have envied the heel plates that you guys have dug for a while. We were struggling in this yard for some strange reason and we broke for a late lunch to recharge. Afterwards, I found this in the front yard and it was one of my deeper finds. Like i said the log cabin-style house was built in 1900 so it was not an ancient property by any means, but we hoped that the land was used before for farming. James found a fired musketball and I found this plate constituting some of the older finds. The buckle I found was interesting as I have not seen one before with two posts. Any idea on age of this one?

 

[Kodiak43351]

Love the bell nice finds

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet

 

[Erik in NJ]

Nice finds Love that heel plate. Kuger and I thought you knew how to track!!

LOL...yes, but the little heart in the footprint makes it so much easier! And I learned on Gunsmoke you can tell the weight of a woman, by the depth of the track!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Are you sure that's an 1856 heel plate? Looks like 58 to me.

It's a '56, but I NEVER went behind the guy's house to get it!!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Fantastic pics bud,and great finds!!!I wish there were more hard evidence poving or dis-proving the supposed use of those by ladies of ill repute....I just struggle with that theory.....

Hey brother! These heel plates are very enigmatic, no? If they were all plates with hearts I could see that the theory makes sense--I could even see prostitutes buying the heart motif ones especially from merchants who marketed all 4 or 5 types as a type of tacit "calling card", but what doesn't seem to make sense to me is the fact that they are ALL small--the hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades as well as the star plates. I can't imagine men wearing boots with tiny heels as they would sink into the mud that much easier. Can you imagine Hoss Cartwright with a heel like that Is there any evidence of cavalry units using these civilian plates on their boots? Then again why wouldn't they be larger? I am aware of the controversy with the "heart" buckles. Would love to know more about these plates, but I agree with your hesitation to buy the story.

 

[Tnmountains]

I also doubt that any guy of the time would have a heart heel plate.

 

[vpnavy]

Nice finds Erik.

 

[granthansen]

These finds were definitely worth the effort. The bell is really really nice. One day I'll get out there with you guys.

 

[cjon455]

awesome bell!, i hope to find one of those eventually