Metal Clip - How Old?

[Coin Sniper]

[SOLVED!] Metal Clip - How Old?

I picked up my oldest son at the university this past week (winter break) and since we were running around the northern end of the state, I figured that I would go out with him for the day and finally use the detector on our first real hunt. My folks have a place up near Ocala, so I scouted out a couple of places to hunt near there, knowing that we could crash at their place for the evening before driving back home for the holidays. :grin:

We worked an old park and came up with come clad, some square nails, some modern and some beaver tail pull tabs, three spent .357 Magnum casings and some other interesting, unidentified things. Among these unidentified things was this old looking clip.

Here are some close-up pics of the clip:

My son and I agree that the designs on the clip look old and that's why we'd like to know more about it.

One side looks like it is stamped with the following information:
PAT'D
NOV.3.74
APR.23.78

The other side looks like it is stamped with the following information:
LINDSAY'S PATENT

Does this look like an item from the 20th century or is it older?

Thank you for your help and HH!

 

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[AU Seeker]

I would say it a clip from a pair of suspenders.

Is the spring inside the "alligator" clip still intact, or is it rusted away?

Looks like it could be old by the design on it, but hard to say, I'm guessing it not that old, as it looks to still have the spring in it and I would think it would've rusted away after just 20 or 30 years.

 

[Coin Sniper]

I would say it a clip from a pair of suspenders.

Is the spring inside the "alligator" clip still intact, or is it rusted away?

Looks like it could be old by the design on it, but hard to say, I'm guessing it not that old, as it looks to still have the spring in it and I would think it would've rusted away after just 20 or 30 years.

AU Seeker, a member on another forum found out what it is. Apparently, it's a clip for a sleeve holder. Here is the patent that was discovered by the other member:

Patent US202735 - IMPROVEMENT IN SLEEVE-SUPPORTERS - Google Patents

My kids are in awe over the fact that we pulled out a metal piece out of the ground that may very well be over a century old. That's what metal detecting is all about!

By the way, yes, the spring still happens to be intact. Thank you for your help!