Eagle Belt Plate and Some Silver

[artifacthunter]

It was great to get out this weekend and enjoy some time detecting. I started Sunday afternoon and went to the local school grounds that have been hunted pretty heavily. I had yet to hit silver there, so I was pleased when a 1943 merc showed up. A piece of iron wire was about 3" to one side, so this gave a bit of a confusing signal. Later that evening I had a few hours to hunt a yard that as far as we know was never hunted before. Within 15 minutes I had a plug with two mercs (1937, 1941) and a wheat, and a second plug with a 1944 merc. After digging a few pieces of trash, I got a strong signal that indicated copper at 1/2" deep. Curious, I cut a plug about 2 1/2" deep and found the target was still in the hole. I reached down to about 3" and found a rectangular piece of what I thought was scrap copper until I saw a bit of design poking out of the dirt. My first plate! A quick check of the internet showed a similar design in both the Civil War time period and post Civil War. The back of this stamped plate is missing the tongue and belt loop - I checked the hole and surrounding area carefully, but found nothing else. It came out of the ground with a brown color - this particular soil did not give it a very pleasing patina (I only lightly washed it with water). Let me know if you think you can date this plate.
I hunted again this morning at another site with plenty of signals, but my best finds were an old lead soldier and a harness bell.
I've included a picture of all of my trash and treasure from the weekend to give you an idea of the mix of items I dug. As you can tell, I've been digging pretty much any signal that gives even a hint that it might be good, so trash to treasure ratio is pretty high.
Thanks!

 

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[allen]

wtg on those great looking finds !

 

[spartacus53]

WTG Nice plate and silver

 

[johnnyi]

Wow, great finds. It looks like you have part of a musket there also.

The belt plate is listed in Kerksis as a rarity 7 (rare!) from 1851

Can anyone here identify the rusted cheek plate?

 

[wingmaster]

Great finds there congrats.

 

[LI Tom]

Wow super find on that Belt Plate!!What a thrill it must have been pulling that out.

 

[kuger]

Nice plate!I agree it looks like a musket side plate there too!!!

 

[Tank69]

awsome finds beautiful cw plate

 

[artifacthunter]

Wow! Thanks for catching that musket side plate in my trash pile! I still have a lot to learn about relic hunting - this is why I keep everything! I've mostly hunted coins until now. Here are a few closeups of the musket part.
Thanks again!

 

[johnnyi]

artifacthunter, start googling flintlocks specifically, as your cheek plate has a powder tray. (a brass powder tray seems unusual)

 

[jraven]

Awesome finds!! I'm glad you were able to get in some good detecting time. Way to go!

 

[ModernMiner]

Awesome find! Congrats on that CW eagle plate. Glad to see there's still great relics like that to be had today.
-MM-

 

[sscindercoop]

Nice finds

 

[johnnyi]

Art, I've been looking a little more this morning and I think the cheek plate may posibly have come off a 1777 french flintlock musket which used the brass powder pan.

Bt the way, I voted "Banner" for your belt plate, considering it is rarity seven ("Several specimens have been noted including an excavated specimen") which makes it equal in rarity to the Georgia state seal plate and rarer than the CSA plate.

 

[BuckleBoy]

artifacthunter, start googling flintlocks specifically, as your cheek plate has a powder tray. (a brass powder tray seems unusual)

Yep, it has a flash pan. That should be easy to find, since it is brass.

KILLER plate you found! I have an 1850s prewar plate, but it is a MUCH more common piece.

What is the brass piece right in the center of your pile of finds? Almost looks like a tongue from a plate... I would also like to see a close-up of the piece on the bottom left in your photo.

P.S.--thanks for posting All your finds. Lots of beginning relic hunters toss out valuable finds without knowing what they are. We'll always help you if you post it all. Took me a long time to learn what I was looking at--and looking for.

Welcome to the Dark Side. Relics are where it's at.


-Buckles

 

[kuger]

artifacthunter, start googling flintlocks specifically, as your cheek plate has a powder tray. (a brass powder tray seems unusual)

Yep, it has a flash pan. That should be easy to find, since it is brass.

KILLER plate you found! I have an 1850s prewar plate, but it is a MUCH more common piece.

What is the brass piece right in the center of your pile of finds? Almost looks like a tongue from a plate... I would also like to see a close-up of the piece on the bottom left in your photo.

P.S.--thanks for posting All your finds. Lots of beginning relic hunters toss out valuable finds without knowing what they are. We'll always help you if you post it all. Took me a long time to learn what I was looking at--and looking for.

Welcome to the Dark Side. Relics are where it's at.

B.B. I too have dug the Militia plate you speak of,I was under the impression they are very rare?They are very rare where I dug mine.
-Buckles

 

[bucksguy81]

that's a neat belt plate!

 

[artifacthunter]

Thanks everyone for your great comments and information on my finds! BuckleBoy had asked about a couple of items in my pile of goodies. I was wondering also about the round, thin copper/brass plate in the lower left of my original post. This disk has a dimple in the center, but I can't see any design or markings. All of these items were found in the same general area as the eagle belt plate. The T shaped copper piece is very thin, so I doubt it was part of a buckle. Let me know if anyone can identify the hook on the right - looks like it is brass. The bullet was about 5 inches down, but I did not mention it before because I was surprised it did not have the normal white patina of a long buried bullet. I included the wheatie in the picture for some size perspective.
Thanks again for your help!

 

[BuckleBoy]

I was hoping I could help with one of those other items, but unfortunately the new photos aren't ringing any bells for me.




You could also post individually anything that doesn't get solved here in the "What is it?" section of the forum.



What I can't believe is that a belt plate of this quality and rarity would only get 17 replies. My banner nomination is in.


-Buckles

 

[Mental Granny]

Neat finds!