🥇 BANNER American Gold Miners Buckle

[tinpan]

American Gold Miner's Buckle

Hi All


History Miner's Diary September 1852 Victoria Australia


"The three of us ,having agreed to combine for a trail of the Mt Alexander Diggings , we purchased a cradle ,large tent and tools, and provisions for two months, and gave a teamaster $20 to convey the lot to Fryer's Creek We tramped up with the waggon , making the trip in five days. On reaching Fryer's Creek we found that place crowded and gold being got in large quantities, but we fancied the good ground was all occupied, and, hearing that many were going to Cambell's Creek , we decided to head there .


The Hunt

I decided to try the large open flat above the creek where once numerous first gold rush camps once existed. Not a tree was left standing and every rock was turned over in the first rush . Over the next 160 years tons of clay and wash soil had been washed by the seasonal rain down onto the camp site . So all targets were to be found at depth, with also mineralised ground this the true element of the PI units . I have been using a GPX 4500 for last few years and had good days and bad days . The first gold miner's didn,t leave gold and this site was not the best field . One thing i will say over the past year, my partner and myself have found some of the best first gold mining relics and only little gold. With miner's from 28 countries there always something different to be found . Chinese , American , British, Hungarian, German and others .


This is one of 5 buckles found at this gold rush camp and as my post in What Is it" is the rarest

American California Miner's Buckle tinpan

 

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[g-olden years]

Hi TinPan! Your miner's buckle is awesome! Conveys the excitement & hardship those guys experienced. Enjoy also seeing the china shards & other relics. The drawing of miners' encampment above a creek conveys reality to soft city slickers like me, lol. Hard work then & now pays off - sometimes! Have Fun & keep us posted on your adventures! Andi

 

[lesche Is More]

Wow man what a buckle and what a story. ! Congrats and ty for saving that beauty of a buckle

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

Nice tales come from just looking at that old belt buckle .

 

[CC Hunter]

Fantastic Find!!!


Great narrative providing a glimpse into the history of the area, site conditions, as well as accompanying relics. A belt buckle depicting a Gold Miner from the beginning Gold Rush is surely the most fitting of all relics to recover from a gold mining camp! Rarity and collector desirability is hard to top there!


Congratulations on a Banner Worthy find!!!


In honor of your American Gold Miner Belt Buckle found in Australia, included here is an Australian Gold Rush Belt Buckle, lost in the American mines.

A personal find recovered years ago, this belt buckle also dates from the 1850's, advertising the clothing business firm of; * F.C. BENNETT * 60 Gt. BOURKE St. EAST MELBOURNE





The original post of the American Gold Miner Buckle on the "What Is It" Forum is included in the following link:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/417437-buckle.html


CC Hunter

 

[park pirate]

Nice finds..

 

[Ahab8]

That buckle is amazing! Congrats on a great piece and nice post

 

[CC Hunter]

For viewing reference, an original complete cast brass Tongue & Wreath style Gold Miner belt buckle of the 1850's, would have appeared as below with the matching outer wreath:





With the rough and tumble life of working in the placer mines of the early gold diggings, these buckles often encountered hard use. Rarely are the buckle tongues and wreaths found straight and completely intact. More often than not these are bent and broken long ago, before eventually being lost or tossed. Finding a near flawless buckle part of this attractive design in such remarkable condition as we see here, is indeed a very worthy accomplishment!


CC Hunter

 

[tinpan]

Hi All The Buckle of the Welcome Stranger Cornish Oak Leaf Buckle Clasp Oak. Tree national tree of Cornwall UK .Cornish Gold miners found the 2 largest nuggets in the world "The Welcome Stranger [2520 0zs] "The Welcome" [2217 Ozs]

tinpan

 

[tinpan]

Hi All America flat 1854 called Eaglehawk today .

 

[Silver Searcher]

Hi All The Buckle of the Welcome Stranger Cornish Oak Leaf Buckle Clasp Oak. Tree national tree of Cornwall UK .Cornish Gold miners found the 2 largest nuggets in the world "The Welcome Stranger [2520 0zs] "The Welcome" [2217 Ozs]

tinpan

Two biggest nuggets found by Brit's ..you just can't keep us boys down.
I'm amazed there hasn't been anymore reply's and Banner votes for this buckle rarity Condition and Great information about the find provided...strange, if an American had found it, it would already be up there.

SS

 

[Ahab8]

Two biggest nuggets found by Brit's ..you just can't keep us boys down. I'm amazed there hasn't been anymore reply's and Banner votes for this buckle rarity Condition and Great information about the find provided...strange, if an American had found it, it would already be up there. SS

It always bums me out when people don't see the beauty of these relics. Seems like people just love the coins. They made a hell of a lot of coins but how often do you see something like this buckle? Stupid Americans lol

 

[CC Hunter]

An Australian Digger wearing a belt with a Tongue & Wreath Buckle.

This is from a glass plate image taken by the American & Australasian Photographic Company, circa 1870.



Image detail from a larger glass plate negative, courtesy of: State Library, New South Wales (The Holtermann Collection)


CC Hunter

 

[danimal03]

BANNER FIND

Congrats on a mega-rare find! I dug one of these tongues in the western US in 2007. I had never seen one before I found mine. What makes this tongue so rare is that it is one of the few 'California motif' style plates that were ever made. 99% of the belt plates worn usually had some sort of eagle on it.

I spent months looking for the matching wreath but was never able to find it. It took me 7 years of constantly looking for one for sale on the internet before I found one. In my opinion, there are approx. 20-30 known tongues. I can only account for about 10 wreaths. But if you lucky enough to find only one half; I would want to find the tongue due to the interesting design.

In rarity and historical terms; yours is off the charts.

I am one of the few collectors out there that specialize in CA Gold Rush and American Civil War. If you found a 'CS' tongue for instance, you would have made the banner already. Attached is a pic of my tongue I dug, and a dug CS Leech and Rigdon style tongue I acquired last year. The CA miner tongue in infinitely more rare than this pretty CS tongue. And the fact you found yours in Australia is even more rare.

your plate was likely worn in the 1850's CA Gold Rush, and was then brought to Australia by the miner after the discovery of gold in Australia. Thus, your tongue witnessed two VERY HISTORIC events that changed world history. Congratulations!

AND THIS IS BANNER MATERIAL ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tinpan]

Hi All ,Thanks for the input into the thread. Far cheaper at the time of the gold rushes and quicker to import supplies across the Pacific Ocean from the USA rather than wait months to get good s for the UK . More than half of all shipping in Australian Waters were American . American coins like large cents and silver seated are found on the Gold rush sites.

Doesn,t matter about the banner as this morning my partner and myself are going back to the site. Heavy frost in the open country and thick fog in the hills and gullies of the diggings. Always a hit and miss on trips but hoping for something good.

tinpan

 

[tinpan]

Hi All ,Heres a button found in the same area by my partner Trevor Pickett Early Feb this year .

tinpan

 

[danimal03]

cool button

Nice button Tinpan! also extremely tough to dig. Actually for whatever reason, a lot of early US Navy buttons turn up in Gold Camps which is what you have, circa 1840's. I have been assembling a California Gold Rush dug button collection and I believe it is probably the largest, and if not the largest, the most advanced. The US navy button turns up more than other branch of service and general service buttons in true 1850's camps.

The CA cold rush is more significant than most of the public understand. My main two focus groups are the CA gold rush and the American Civil War. When I discuss the importance of CA gold if generally falls of deaf ears. but just to clarify and speaking from memory on research I was doing here are some basics:

More gold was pumped out of the CA gold fields in the first 7 years, then all gold found in the previous 200 years worldwide.

Gold was so important to the US economy, that when the SS Central America sank in 1857, it contributed to a recession for that time period.

Gold financed the war for the Union during the American Civil War.

The Confederacy partially recognized gold's importance in that they tried to invade and take CA. (Made it as far west as AZ)

Another enterprising Confederate Naval officer (who worked in the gold rush) tried to buy and arm a schooner and raid California shipping for gold. (He was the only CS officer held in Alcatraz for the war)

Most people remember the severe inflation suffered by the Confederacy during the war. Without CA gold, the US government would have likely suffered serious problems with currency.

Actually, arguably the farthest western shot fired in the Civil War was fired in CA. And it was in response to Confederate guerillas robbing gold from stage coaches.

California in the 1850's and 60's is nothing like it today. Like it or not, CA gold helped solidify the US with real buying power and greatly helped finance the American Civil War.

So again, congrats on some super historic finds. Good luck finding the wreath, I really hope you can find it as it most assuredly will have the same gorgeous patina.

 

[CC Hunter]

It always bums me out when people don't see the beauty of these relics. Seems like people just love the coins. They made a hell of a lot of coins but how often do you see something like this buckle? Stupid Americans lol

True words indeed Ahab8!


For more than a decade I have chased one of these rare buckles with coil and shovel. Have never turned one up, nor seen one dug by an associate on any ground we have searched. For those dedicated diggers I know, gold coins turn up more frequently! Probably an average of 10 or more gold coins are dug to every buckle like this cast brass Gold Miner that we see here!


CC Hunter

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Got my banner vote!

 

[danimal03]

extremely rare miner belt plate

think of the show Deadwood. yet way earlier, way more uncertain and crazy, and more historic...