Royal Artillery Cross Belt Plate!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

[romeo-1]

What a day! Never in my life did I think I would ever dig one of these. I always wanted to find a belt plate but never thought I would find a marked belt plate! It is an officer's Royal Artillery cross belt plate from 1790-1810 era. It is bent but the detail is amazing. The picture does not do it justice. There are the three cannons of the Royal Artillery within a shield in the centre. At the top it is marked "Second Batt" with a flaming cannon ball between the wording. On the bottom it is marked "Royal Artillery". There is even some gilt left on the edge design!

This was found on a site that we just got permission for today. We knew right away that we were on a site from the iron, glass and pottery. I managed a couple toe taps and a Speed the Plough token and Iron Patch found a few interesting things when I got a great signal...nice and shallow. I flipped the soil and there it was. I called Iron Patch and told him that I just found a belt plate! I actually did not know that it was at that time but knew that the shape was correct. I handed it to Iron Patch and he immediately saw the cannons in the center and proclaimed it a Royal Artillery belt plate!

I was thrilled to say the least! I am told by an expert in the field that it is quite a rare find. This is by far my favorite find to date...one I will never part with. I am going to try to research the site and try to determine who may have lost it...should be fun.

It is very difficult to photograph this thing due to the patina and the bend.

 

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[romeo-1]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Did a little dry cleaning. This is as far as I will go with cleaning and restoration...now it is very readable and identifiable. Thanks for all the comments.

 

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[CRUSADER]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Just a quick question:

Why will you 'never top this', are you giving up detecting & taking up knitting. Think positive lad

 

[pgill]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Well said Crusader Come now Romeo-1 get out there and get something better and not bent

God bless
Peter

 

[Company F]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Very nice find. Congratulations!

 

[woody50]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Great find! Take care with the patina and if I was you I would not do anything with it. Leave it to the professionals. Let them conserve it. About unbending it, that is almost impossible without removing the patina. You must remember that the metal is not new metal, but its old metal, its porous after all the time in the ground and with age becomes brittle. Metal loses minerals when its a long time in the ground, that's just nature trying to make everything equal. But if you do want to straighten it, "don't try that at home".

 

[romeo-1]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Banner Bump!

 

[Kyle PA]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Outstanding recovery made by an outstanding detectorist. It couldn't have happened to a better person. I know you'll cherish it for life.

Kyle

 

[Mainedigger]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Banner Bump!

What's a banner bump??

 

[Roger Mn.]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Congratulations on your find romeo-1 and making the banner.

 

[Hardy]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Great Find there bud , congrats!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ed-NH]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Outstanding find of a lifetime. I believe that you should submit it to W&ET. That has to be a winner for sure. Congrats.

 

[the gambler]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

The relics with information are the funnest things to find, atleast for me. I would love to see it restored and reposted. good luck

 

[CashIsKing]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Nice find sometimes i think when you find relics there better than finding coins... HH
CashIsKing

 

[woody50]

Re: Unbelievable Relic Find...I'll never be able to top this!!!!! BETTER PICTURE!!!

Nice find sometimes i think when you find relics there better than finding coins... HH
CashIsKing

Hi CashIsKing! You are correct. Coins, although great finds, are not personal. Everybody had them in the past and most passed from hand to hand for quite some time before they were lost. Relics on the other hand, such as buckles, armbands, rings, etc. were personal items, worn by one individual (sometimes more of course). I know when I find that sort of relic it means much more to me than a coin. I always stop and think about what the item is, where it is found, and why it was lost (we sure like to daydream in our minds with ourselves about that) or thrown away, and the combination of these three w's. Sometimes we can discover even the history behind a relic, while the history behind most coins are just facts. No, give me a personal relic anyday compared to coins. In the begin I was only busy with coins, later only with relics. Coins now are always secondary items to me nowadays.

It is another story about coin caches, mostly they were buried with the idea to later come back and get them. And if someone didn't achieve that, well your idea is as good as mine why not. It seems like the coin caches we now find can be considered personal items like relics, they were buried by one person (who had a history) who didn't tell anyone else, or a group of people who all disappeared without telling anyone where the cache was. There is always a history about a cache, but finding it is very hard, only when something was written down back then about for instance someone dying, the person was thought to be rich but the money had never been found, and you find the cache in or around the area where he (they) had lived can you almost be sure the history is correct.

 

[Wormslayer]

I was scouring the internet trying to identify a cross belt plate that I found here in England, when I came across your belt plate. It's a beauty. It looks even older than mine. It oozes history, though I can't be sure of that because I have had no luck in identifying mine. I thought you might like to see it. Good luck with your future hunts, and to everyone at treasurenet.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[JW15]

I dunno how I missed this post but WOW...What a find and good job on the better pic, congrats all the way.

 

[lost hunter]

wtg

 

[Iron Patch]

I was scouring the internet trying to identify a cross belt plate that I found here in England, when I came across your belt plate. It's a beauty. It looks even older than mine. It oozes history, though I can't be sure of that because I have had no luck in identifying mine. I thought you might like to see it. Good luck with your future hunts, and to everyone at treasurenet.

Cheers,
Mark

I wouldn't expect that to be easy because it's quite likely from a small militia type unit and could be from just about anywhere. What do you think the letters are... AAV? Looks like V at the end, so that would probably be Volunteers. Were you near anywhere starting with the letter A?

 

[Wormslayer]

I should have said.. The letters are MV. From what I can find out, yes it is local militia, and yes the V stands for volunteer, well done that man! But whats the M? I will not rest until I find out. It's driving me nutz Thanks for taking a look.

 

[Iron Patch]

I should have said.. The letters are MV. From what I can find out, yes it is local militia, and yes the V stands for volunteer, well done that man! But whats the M? I will not rest until I find out. It's driving me nutz Thanks for taking a look.

I first thought MV but it looks like there's horizontal crosses in the "M"making them As, but I also have no problem believing it's a fancy M, too. I know someone who is pretty good at ID'ing the obscure Brit. stuff so I'll run it by him.

So how about place names starting with M close to where you found it?


There's a good chance their buttons had the same design and since..... Plates are much rarer than buttons you should also try searching as if it was a button as it would give you a better chance of getting a hit.