Batwing buckles, odd relics, and a literal cornucopia

paleomaxx

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Aug 14, 2016
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Upstate, NY
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I've been looking at this yard near the center of the town for some time now, and after a very enjoyable talk with the owners on the local history I was able to get started. The house is still the original late 1700's with some modifications, but the front yard used to have the town general store before it was torn down, so a very promising piece of land.

It certainly did not disappoint with many clearly 1800's relics, but almost every other piece I pulled out of the ground was new to me so I'll definitely need some help keeping them out of the unknown box! The first grouping are the buckles and I was able to add two new batwing buckles to my collection; one of the largest and one of the smallest.

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I always like finding batwing buckles, but the size extremes in the same yard is particularly unusual. The next is my main mystery piece:

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It's silver plated copper with a pewter back; very similar in construction to a bridle rosette including a trench in the pewter where an iron bar might have been, but I've never seen a non-circular rosette before so maybe something else. Has anyone found anything like this before?

The next is also a new one for me:

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It's a brass relic, but what's interesting is that it was cast as opposed to made from sheet brass. Someone put a ton of time into shaping and polishing the outside so I'm thinking a decorative piece; maybe from a scabbard? It had three holes near the top and was circular before being crushed a long time ago.

I love finding personalized relics and this next one is a fully intact nameplate:

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The lettering is "John W. Peterson Valatie N.Y." I can't find much specific to that name since it's relatively generic, but I'm still poking through old genealogy sheets from Valatie so there's still some hope. This town is well outside of Valatie, but was an industrial center in the mid 1800's so he may have traveled here regularly to buy or sell goods. Finding his profession and what he traded would be very interesting in terms of the local history.

These are the rest of the mystery pieces. The weird folded brass plate says: "St. Croix" so maybe more modern.

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These at least were more familiar; a few pieces of pewter spoons and a cute little crotal bell that still has the iron ball inside.

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And finally the only button out of the yard; a tiny convex button which I only rarely find here and even more unusual is the delicate etching of a thistle on the dome. Very pretty and the first I've seen like this.

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Oddly the only coins were two wheat pennies; a 1917 and a 1942. I did some extensive gridding, but I'll definitely be going back when the ground is wetter since I'm sure there's more to be found. With all these relics, there's got to be at least one mercury dime and I can't stop until I find it! :laughing7:

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Upvote 19
Excellent hunt with a nice assortment of finds.
I think the polished brass piece may be the tip of a cane.
Congratulations
 

I would kill to find a big batwing buckle! Great find!
 

Congrats on the two great looking buckles and the other relics like the name plate.
 

Congratualtions on the relics! :occasion14:
 

UUNNREAL.........
 

Gotta love those bat wings.
 

Your John Peterson tag is actually a "wagon makers plate" (also found on buggies). John just happened to be a wagon maker though. :icon_thumleft:
 

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Excellent finds!!! The Crotal bell looks great also but I love that big batwing buckle!!

Congrats and HH
 

Great buckle! I love that wagon plate, too! You had a nice hunt!
 

Wow! You wrecked it on the relics mate!:headbang: I love every single one. Loads of way cool big grin keepers here! Heck yeah! Well done.:icon_salut:
 

Your John Peterson tag is actually a "wagon makers plate" (also found on buggies). John just happened to be a wagon maker though.

That is awesome; thank so much for the superb identification! Any piece showing local manufacturing from those days is precisely the kind of thing I look for and I know the family will be very excited to hear about this. Thank you again!
 

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That is awesome; thank so much for the superb identification! Any piece showing local manufacturing from those days is precisely the kind of thing I look for and I know the family will be very excited to hear about this. Thank you again!

You are welcome .. glad I could be of some help.
 

Just thought you guys might like to see this. Based on the fantastic info from Creskol I pulled up the nearest dated historical map I could find of Valatie NY and there it was:

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John W. Peterson's home and wagon shop where this tag was made. Might take a trip down there to see how it looks 144 years later.
 

I also think your three holed thimble is a cane tip Very nice finds
 

I also think your three holed thimble is a cane tip Very nice finds

Thank you! I think it's likely a cane tip too after seeing some other dug examples.
 

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