🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Eagle escutcheon use?

[Almy]

Found this in a Canadian site that has all British artifacts (military and civilian buttons mainly from around 1790 to 1850) except for this eagle, It is 1" in diameter. It seems complete because there are no broken edges. I wonder about the function of the tab. It is fairly thin (0.040"), thinner that I would expect for a buckle. I notice there are no stars nor wording on it, as there are on similar relics I have seen. Any idea what it is and how old

? I'd like to know what one US artifact (which I assume it is) is doing with all the British stuff. First pic front, second back.

 

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[duggap]

I may be all wet, but to me it looks like the tongue of a two piece buckle. I think it looks like plate 349 in the O'Donald and Campbell "American Military Belt Plates"

 

[HuntinDog]

Although yours doesn't have the stars, this is what you have Tonge part of.

 

[Almy]

Thank you for the replies. I'm not convinced it is a belt buckle part. Reasons: it is small (1 1/8" diameter), thin, and its only appendage is the partial triangle on one side.
All the edges (round part and triangular tab) are what we called "selvedge" when I was installing drywall, meaning factory made. The piece is complete as is, there is no place around its edge where there was once another part of it that was broken off. Unless there was a lead back in it once, the only attachment point is that triangular tab. How could that hold it in place? And what was its use? How old is it, likely? I can see that it was stamped rather than cast.

 

[caprock]

The piece in question is indeed a portion of a stamped brass tongue from a tongue and wreath buckle made between 1850 and 1860. It is civilian and most commonly worn by miners from the California gold rush. Yours has broken along the belt loop. They are found like this all the time. It is known as the Rope border Eagle by collectors. Excellent find, obviously a California miner made it up your way.

 

[Older The Better]

Just trying to take both sides as truth, it is a buckle and it is not broken… any chance it’s spare parts? Like yours broke get a little solder and put a new eagle on?

 

[Almy]

Thank you for your efforts to help and your patience with me. Caprock and OtB, I think you have it! Under magnification, there could be solder residue along the outside edge of the tab. It's obscured by corrosion so I did not notice it before. It could be one that came apart or a spare part. Now I know what it is, how it fastened and the probable dates. Its location among old British relics is interesting. But the location had been occupied for a long time, beyond the dates for the buckle. I've heard of locals "going west" to seek their fortunes in the goldfields. Maybe this eagle relic is from one who came home.

 

[Almy]

Administrator: I can't find the menu shown in the demonstration thread above that allows me to change this to "SOLVED", which it is.