Complete Shoe Buckle (1720-1790) and a King George I Farthing

[lenmac65]

I searched two former homesites yesterday. The first site only gave up a button, some sort of buckle, and an escutcheon piece. The second site was producing nothing until I got a strong high tone with a VDI around 22. I dug the hole and was happy to see a complete shoe buckle dating from about 1720 to 1790. A few minutes later I got another high tone with a VDI of 26. While that VDI often suggests a silver dime, it was giving off too “big” of a sound for a coin that small. Sure enough, it was a British copper. Once at home I could see it was a King George I farthing, which were minted from 1719 to 1724. This one is toasted, though I think it may be dated 1723. Happy hunting and good luck out there!

 

[The Rebel]

Nice job! I too see 1723.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Congrats on the excellent Colonial finds !

And yes, it also looks like 1723 to me.

 

[oldmxrat]

Fantastic hunt, and that shoe buckle is outstanding, congrats!

 

[Silvermonkey]

That is one gorgeous shoe buckle! What a great piece. Love the farthing too. That particular coin has eluded me over the years. Happy to know that they are still out there. Well done Lenmac65! PS- I love the pic of the shoe buckle with the American flag in the background.

 

[Jeff H]

Nice! A shoe buckle and a farthing is a great hunt.

 

[lenmac65]

That is one gorgeous shoe buckle! What a great piece. Love the farthing too. That particular coin has eluded me over the years. Happy to know that they are still out there. Well done Lenmac65! PS- I love the pic of the shoe buckle with the American flag in the background.

Thanks, Silvermonkey! I was happy to get the farthing, though the King George I Hibernia coins seem to hold up much better in the soil than these ones do. Good luck on your search. I love finding buckles and recall you have dug a nice collection too. Thanks for the comment on the flag in the photo. That feature was unintentional at first, as I accidentally included the flag in the background when I held the buckle up under my desk light, which is next to a coffee cup holding the flag and some pens. I liked the effect, so I took a few more photos with the flag in it until I got the best shot. I am glad you liked it too.

 

[Mr. Digger]

Now those are some fine Massachusetts digs right there, lenmac. Congrats! It's such a thrill to recover a complete Colonial shoe buckle. Does it still swivel?

 

[Bamasteve]

Outstanding finds, congrats!

 

[scruggs]

Congratulations on your outstanding recoveries!

 

[djackson7348]

Congrats on some great finds. Shows what a little research before the search can lead you to. Hopefully there will be several more discoveries in future hunts at those sights.

 

[pepperj]

The shoe buckle would be my favorite 😍.
The Farthing is nice, but the buckle is top shelf.
Congratulations on the day.

 

[lenmac65]

Now those are some fine Massachusetts digs right there, lenmac. Congrats! It's such a thrill to recover a complete Colonial shoe buckle. Does it still swivel?

Thanks, Mr. Digger! I do like digging shoe buckles, and have had the good fortune to have recovered several complete buckles over the last several years. This one has some limited movement (about 20%). I might try a little WD 40, though I don’t want to push it too hard.

 

[lenmac65]

The shoe buckle would be my favorite 😍.
The Farthing is nice, but the buckle is top shelf.
Congratulations on the day.

Thanks, pepperj. I too prefer the buckle and hope to make a display box someday with the other shoe and knee buckles I have found. I am a sucker for old coins too, but this one is in really rough shape. Still fun to find though.

 

[Digger RJ]

I searched two former homesites yesterday. The first site only gave up a button, some sort of buckle, and an escutcheon piece. The second site was producing nothing until I got a strong high tone with a VDI around 22. I dug the hole and was happy to see a complete shoe buckle dating from about 1720 to 1790. A few minutes later I got another high tone with a VDI of 26. While that VDI often suggests a silver dime, it was giving off too “big” of a sound for a coin that small. Sure enough, it was a British copper. Once at home I could see it was a King George I farthing, which were minted from 1719 to 1724. This one is toasted, though I think it may be dated 1723. Happy hunting and good luck out there!

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Very Cool!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Mudflap]

Great finds! That buckle is in really nice condition too.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on an great find ! That buckle is in excellent condition.