A Little Bit o' Silver, Brass, and Lead - Good as Gold to Me!

[vferrari]

Virginia hunt in hot dirt at CW site yielded some sweet colonial cooper and brass and some CW brass and lead.

Colonial shoe buckle. Found one of the broken silver pieces first, and subsequently recovered the rest after some searching in and around the initial hole. Not shovel struck. That's my story and I'm sticking to it lol (seriously, the breaks look old based on dirt encrusted/tarnished edges).

A Navy two piece button. (CW period)

Flat brass button. (Likely colonial)

Some CW minie ball bullets including a ringtail Sharps.

Some brass and lead miscellaneous items including a percussion cap.

The silver buckle is like gold to me. Totally unexpected find where I was.

Enjoy...

 

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[vferrari]

Thanks all for looking and the nice comments and yes, I am seriously considering get that buckle restored. The breaks are clean and all pieces are in great shape with little to no damage.

 

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[Silver Tree Chaser]

Excellent finds all around. Is the knee buckle solid silver or silver over brass? Usually solid silver buckles had iron tines, so dug buckles of solid silver typically consist of the frame alone. If it's solid silver, then I would definitely look at the cost of repairs by a silversmith. Regardless of it's exact composition, it's a very nice find.

 

[vferrari]

Thanks. Based on the break points, it appears to be solid silver and rings up as solid silver but I have not acid tested it.

 

[smokeythecat]

Nice. The buckle is 19th century, that is a Victorian style piece and fits nicely in where you are digging.

 

[vferrari]

Thanks Smokey. Could not find an example online. Victorian instead of Colonial, that makes more sense now. Wish TNET would let me edit the original post to update the info.

 

[HighVDI]

Nice finds V! Congrats.

 

[Jeff H]

Great find there V. Silver plated buckles are rare enough.....Solid silver shoe or knee buckles are rarer than hen's teeth. Congrats!

 

[vferrari]

The Navy Button cleaned up real nice.





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[sataro]

Congrats on some very nice finds!

 

[lairmo]

It's a beauty!!! What type of buckle is it?

 

[vferrari]

It's a beauty!!! What type of buckle is it?

Pure silver, likely Victorian period (1840's to 1870's) sash buckle.