Sweet Heart buckle found!

[Gonehunting]

I went metal detecting yesterday after noon for about 30 min with my wife and found one thing and it made the trip
if anyone can tell me more about it, I would appreciate it...


I found it at 11 inches at the base of some steps going into a homeplace...
my wife's great great great grampaw was in the calvary and there is a pic of him and his unit on horses in front of this place....

 

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[dugupfinds]

Buckle protector for a horse harness I think. Several have been posted. Some debate if CW??

http://www.relicman.com/cav.htm

See above link

 

[PBK]

Although it's often listed as a horse harness buckle, this heart-embossed item is really a buckle shield, made to fit on top of the actual buckle. Supposedly, the shield would keep the buckle from snagging, but it also served an ornamental purpose. The same design has been around since the 19th century, and in fact it's still being made today.

This item is sometimes misidentified as a "Confederate blanket roll buckle," an unfortunate attribution which found its way into print into an early edition Dr. Francis A. Lord's Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia, and into a later edition which reproduced the original pages without corrections. However, it was acknowledged in Vol. V, which was first published 'way back in 1989. Quoting from p. iv of Vol. V:

"Additions and Corrections to Volume IV, Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia.

"Page 27. Mr. Durham [Roger S. Durham, then curator of Fort Bliss Museum, Texas] identifies these blanket roll buckles as hardware from horse harness. He is very probably correct."

This mistaken ID was also debunked by Charles S. Harris, the author of Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns, in an article titled "Hearts in Harness" in North South Trader's Civil War magazine, Vol. XXIV, #6 (Dec. 1997), p. 62-63, which was accompanied by several photographs showing identical buckle shields or covers in place on harness straps.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Nice find! I have seen one of these found, on a forum and it was IDed as a CW blanket roll buckle like PBK said. HH, Mike

 

[PBK]

Nice find! I have seen one of these found, on a forum and it was IDed as a CW blanket roll buckle like PBK said. HH, Mike

Yeah, they're still out there, all right. However, most dealers and collectors are starting to come around on this one. Check out the third item at:

http://www.campsiteartifacts.com/miscexcavated.html

 

[Montana Jim]

Either way its a great era piece! Will make a nice display! Congrats!

 

[Gonehunting]

I am definitely going to have to pay attention to what i am considering junk now!
I also found a similar piece of metal that has a womans head on it with flowing hair.. sorry the piece is at my mothers house so as soon as I can get over there I will post it...it was at about the same depth and is just a tad smaller....

 

[Bigfoot Okie]

Wow!!! That is really a nice find. Guess you will have to take your wife more often. Were you making her dig or was she just watching? You will probably have to buy her a new Vaquero now.
Congrats on a great find.
Jim

 

[Gonehunting]

Wow!!! That is really a nice find. Guess you will have to take your wife more often. Were you making her dig or was she just watching? You will probably have to buy her a new Vaquero now.
Congrats on a great find.
Jim

She said you should have been there...

 

[Danimal]

Although it's often listed as a horse harness buckle, this heart-embossed item is really a buckle shield, made to fit on top of the actual buckle. Supposedly, the shield would keep the buckle from snagging, but it also served an ornamental purpose. The same design has been around since the 19th century, and in fact it's still being made today.

This item is sometimes misidentified as a "Confederate blanket roll buckle," an unfortunate attribution which found its way into print into an early edition Dr. Francis A. Lord's Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia, and into a later edition which reproduced the original pages without corrections. However, it was acknowledged in Vol. V, which was first published 'way back in 1989. Quoting from p. iv of Vol. V:

"Additions and Corrections to Volume IV, Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia.

"Page 27. Mr. Durham [Roger S. Durham, then curator of Fort Bliss Museum, Texas] identifies these blanket roll buckles as hardware from horse harness. He is very probably correct."

This mistaken ID was also debunked by Charles S. Harris, the author of Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns, in an article titled "Hearts in Harness" in North South Trader's Civil War magazine, Vol. XXIV, #6 (Dec. 1997), p. 62-63, which was accompanied by several photographs showing identical buckle shields or covers in place on harness straps.

so PBK...was the mis-identification in that it was a harness buckle and not a bedroll buckle? Is this indeed from the CW era?
I found one in Jamestown, PA and it is in NM condition.

 

[PBK]

so PBK...was the mis-identification in that it was a harness buckle and not a bedroll buckle? Is this indeed from the CW era?
I found one in Jamestown, PA and it is in NM condition.

The error was in calling it a bedroll buckle. (Of course, that's not to say that nobody ever used it for that purpose, but such usage doesn't alter its intended function. A milkmaid can put a bucket on her head going out to the barn in the rain, but it's still a bucket, not a bonnet.)

CW camp finds suggest that some of these harness buckle shields were in use at that time. However, they were a civilian item, not military issue. There is generally no direct evidence (mfgr.'s marks, etc.) which can be used to prove that they are CW or postwar. They were still widely used in the early 1900's, and they can even be purchased new in some sizes today.

 

[Mona Lisa]

That is a great find, Gone. I would love to find one of those.

I think those buckles are still being made today.

 

[civilman1]

Whatever the ID Gone.....Congrat's,nice find...

 

[flakefinder]

Although it's often listed as a horse harness buckle, this heart-embossed item is really a buckle shield, made to fit on top of the actual buckle. Supposedly, the shield would keep the buckle from snagging, but it also served an ornamental purpose. The same design has been around since the 19th century, and in fact it's still being made today.

This item is sometimes misidentified as a "Confederate blanket roll buckle," an unfortunate attribution which found its way into print into an early edition Dr. Francis A. Lord's Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia, and into a later edition which reproduced the original pages without corrections. However, it was acknowledged in Vol. V, which was first published 'way back in 1989. Quoting from p. iv of Vol. V:

"Additions and Corrections to Volume IV, Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia.

"Page 27. Mr. Durham [Roger S. Durham, then curator of Fort Bliss Museum, Texas] identifies these blanket roll buckles as hardware from horse harness. He is very probably correct."

This mistaken ID was also debunked by Charles S. Harris, the author of Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns, in an article titled "Hearts in Harness" in North South Trader's Civil War magazine, Vol. XXIV, #6 (Dec. 1997), p. 62-63, which was accompanied by several photographs showing identical buckle shields or covers in place on harness straps.

Thanks for the info because I had no Idea what it was, Thanks and Good Hunting...

 

[Gonehunting]

Thanks for the info because I had no Idea what it was, Thanks and Good Hunting...

I do know that the design has been used up till the 1950's maybe even later. I did some research when it was first found and that it was considered a buckle protector. Although there may have been some in use during the civil war. My wife's gggrandfather was in service during the indian wars, so I guess it would have to be collected with other relics to decide when exactly that particular bp was in use.. hope that helps.