Any idea what it could be?

[mandy]

Found this on my stepfathers land. It used to be a old town. Any help with what it could be or where it could be from would be greatly appreciated. I have searched the internet but have had no luck. Im sure its nothing of importance but thought it was pretty neat to find. Thanks!

 

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[G.A.P.metal]

It looks like a big belt buckle ...is there a hook on the back?

 

[mandy]

It is 3 inches long and an inch wide. I thought it looked like a buckle also. I found it about 2 feet into the ground.

 

[mical66]

here is a weird perspective ( which i am pretty good at )
looking at the tab on one side and slot on the other they look like they are the same size and positioned so another block the same style would lock into it making a chain / belt .

 

[mandy]

Never thought of that one. But you do have a good point. It does look that way. Wish I could find something like it on the internet but keep coming up with nothing. Thanks you guys!

 

[bigfoot1]

It appears to be brass...your thoughts?

 

[cudamark]

To heck with the item.....what are you using as a background for the photo?? It looks like your taking your pics in outer space!

 

[kuger]

I think it dates much sooner than 19 th Cent.,but thats just my opinion
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/105505-illinois-buckle-but-what-kind-buckle.html

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

early American hippie belt buckle?{ band outfit belt plate?}

 

[Forty-Niner]

I have seen this belt plate before and it is indeed missing the keeper ( end attached to other end of belt). These have been associated with state national guard units and universities with cadet programs. It dates to the 1890's. Nor real common. The other type encountered is MISSISSIPPI.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Added info.

I followed Kuger's link and answered in that thread. This item is cast brass, which suggest a belt-buckle, rather than thin stamped-brass. This buckle does have an unusually narrow long "hook" on one end, whose length matches the slot in the buckle's other end, which suggests Mical66 is on the right track in thinking it linked to another one (or more), forming a belt made of them. Or, the unually narrow hook may be a wider one which is partially broken-off. Need another photo of it.

I've seen these buckles saying Georgia, or Mississippi, or Illinois, among others.

Here is what I replied in the other discussion:
It is indeed a belt-buckle. That type has been found showing various state school names. Its specific form is shown in the O'Donnell-&-Campbell buckle-book as a "School [belt]plate." Under a photo of one on page 523, the book says:
"Popular style of early 20th-century School plate marketed by several firms. The 1916 North & Judd catalogue (New Britain, Conn.) listed these as "College buckles." [...] Thomas Parry & Sons offered these as "College Belt Buckles" during the same period."