Eagle Belt Plate from the Burgh

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Made it out for a pretty good lunch hunt last week, then met up with MetalHeadz this morning to explore a new site.

The new site is loaded with old bottles, brought 2 home.


We had a hard time locating the definitive 1860’s homesite as there were several large holes filled with water, 20’x20’ size, and brick spills, but not our typical stacked stone foundation cellar hole. I think we may have just found the out buildings.

Here is a mystery token. I think it is a Pittsburgh specific merchants token. Any ID would be awesome.




Then I got a deep 23-24 signal on my Nox about 15’ away from this token. Dug the plug and then pinpointed deeper, took another 4” of soil and got quite a surprise.

Yelled for Louis to come down to check it out.

Next step was to send a quick text to wake Steve up for a quick ID. (I’m sure he loves these texts at 8am...) Steve texts back that it is probably Indian Wars era, post CW.

Here it is cleaned up, if anyone has more ID info it would be appreciated.

BTW this piece was about 5’ away, sort of looks like it is part of the mechanism.


Only one silver, 1927 Merc.


Here is the handful of relics and coins.



Louis had a great weekend pulling old coins and relics as well. I’m sure he will be posting his finds.

Good luck out there!

 

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[DiggerKid2003]

You had yourself a great day of digging! And that belt plate is just awesome.

 

[smokeythecat]

Nice going. From the back it looks Indian wars to me also. The other oval piece is the keeper for the belt.

 

[lairmo]

Awesome stuff!!!

 

[HIGHSTRUNG]

Congrats on the finds!

 

[Johncoho]

Nice finds in the Burgh my friend. The Eagle plate cleaned up really nice.

 

[creskol]

Darn PA .. You had a great hunt! I love that token .. Trying to research it a bit. Well done, Sir!

 

[BeenThere DugThat]

I can only dream of finding an eagle belt plate that cool near the city. You're very lucky! That's why I dig anything big or small if the signal is strong. I actually passed up some bigger targets under tree roots today. Your token is sweet, it mentions carpet and furniture on the back. Your milk bottle cleaned up very well. I need to get off my ass and clean the bottles I've found the past few years!

I'll be posting soon btw.

 

[Steve in PA]

Sweet find Thad
I can't find an exact match in my book American Military Belt Plates. Yours looks like fairly thin sheet brass since you can see the image on the back. Most were thicker brass but there are some in the book that you can see the image on the reverse. I'm pretty sure it's a variant of the model 1874 waist belt plate which was used into the early 1900s.

 

[Al.relics]

Great lunch hunt you had there and congrats on the plate!!

 

[Stilllookin Dave]

Congratulations on your finds! That is a beautiful belt buckle.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

I can only dream of finding an eagle belt plate that cool near the city. You're very lucky! That's why I dig anything big or small if the signal is strong. I actually passed up some bigger targets under tree roots today. Your token is sweet, it mentions carpet and furniture on the back. Your milk bottle cleaned up very well. I need to get off my ass and clean the bottles I've found the past few years!

I'll be posting soon btw.

Thx Louis! I’ve seen Eagle Belt Plates on other Tnet posts in the past. Usually related to CW battle sites, camps, trails, etc. Finding this post CW plate at today’s site was crazy. We need to spend some more time studying the maps after having boots on the ground at this new site.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Sweet find Thad
I can't find an exact match in my book American Military Belt Plates. Yours looks like fairly thin sheet brass since you can see the image on the back. Most were thicker brass but there are some in the book that you can see the image on the reverse. I'm pretty sure it's a variant of the model 1874 waist belt plate which was used into the early 1900s.

Thx for your help again this morning. I saw a couple Indian Wars plates that had a solid/filled back online. This one is thick / heavy not thin sheet metal brass, but definitely not the 1/4” solid brass variety.

 

[Kona Koma]

Incredible finds. Great job.

 

[Bob-E-Pin]

That is amazing....

 

[Trezurehunter]

That is an excellent belt plate find. I found one also, (see my avatar). I also had mine identified as Indian Wars, until I purchased and read the book "Relic Quest" by Stephen Moore. In his book, on page 451, this plate is identified as a : Federal Eagle Militia Plate that could be purchased by Militia units during the 1840's and 1850's, and could have been worn by either side during the 1860's. As i interpret this, it would mean pre Civil War, and up thru the Indian Wars. It is a stamped Brass Plate. Before people jump on this post, this is not my opinion, this is what is in the book as noted above. I about died as I saw the picture of this plate with the description in the book, as I had always hoped to find a plate from this era. For me, my plate is now cleaned up and is the prize of my relic collection finds. It came out of the ground perfectly straight, and is in flawless condition. Hope this helps, and again, great find for you.

 

[Tpmetal]

epic, bucket lister for sure

 

[Digger RJ]

Awesome!!! Congrats!!!

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

That is an excellent belt plate find. I found one also, (see my avatar). I also had mine identified as Indian Wars, until I purchased and read the book "Relic Quest" by Stephen Moore. In his book, on page 451, this plate is identified as a : Federal Eagle Militia Plate that could be purchased by Militia units during the 1840's and 1850's, and could have been worn by either side during the 1860's. As i interpret this, it would mean pre Civil War, and up thru the Indian Wars. It is a stamped Brass Plate. Before people jump on this post, this is not my opinion, this is what is in the book as noted above. I about died as I saw the picture of this plate with the description in the book, as I had always hoped to find a plate from this era. For me, my plate is now cleaned up and is the prize of my relic collection finds. It came out of the ground perfectly straight, and is in flawless condition. Hope this helps, and again, great find for you.

Thx for the ID help. Does the pic in your book have a small or wide tongue attachment on the back? I have seen a bunch of pics on the net with the small tongue, but have not seen a wide tongue pic.

 

[Steve in PA]

Thx for the ID help. Does the pic in your book have a small or wide tongue attachment on the back? I have seen a bunch of pics on the net with the small tongue, but have not seen a wide tongue pic.

Steve Moore's book Relic Quest should not be should not be used as a reference guide. Moore used the description sent in by the finder with their picture. I have a number of my finds pictured in that book, as does a friend of mine who sent a large horse tack buckle in and called it sword belt buckle, which is what it is called in his book. Here is an online reference to the Model 1874 plate.

Ridgeway Reference Library, Civil War plates and buckles