I have been asked to add a little to the background of the site,and although I cant get into great detail I will touch on a little bit about the site.
The site was found kind of by accident,while searching for a nearby way station/stage stop that was active in the early 1850's.We still arent exactly sure wher that may be,but are fearing that it has been obliterated by past construction.
Not a whole lot is known about this site other than it was a camp,that was abandoned by 1856,as the county records show no residents past that point.One other buckle found at the site was a Taussig & Pollack & Co. which was the first form of designer advertisement if you will.T.&P. were listed in The SanFrancisco bussiness directory as Clothing importers and in partnership from 1852-1853. As with every other location we have found these Star buckles the locations were seldom occupied past 1858,and never with any other military items such as buttons etc.
This style of buckle has turned up East of the Miss.and deemed Texas affiliated but given the fact more have been found in the type of sites I have described it is doubtful this is true.Undoubtedly men left out with there buckles to return home to the east,and in time lost them,but again more are found far from Texas, Miss. or any battlefields,than are.I hope I have not rambled and confused,but these are our passion,and a great amount of research has gone into then and there Provenance.
When I initially seen the tongue in the hole,it was face down,and I could plainly see the narrow bridge,I knew immediately it was a good one as this design is weak and usually broken at that point,this one was not!Also there are only a couple of buckles with this feature,the Stars,and one with and anchor.I hollered for my partner who was in the midst of excavating a fantastic find himself(I was actually walking to him to see what he had swinging when I found this)He is the foremost expert on this period,and his excitement rivaled mine.I hate to admit it but in my haste I actually hit the belt loop on the wreath which my partner so expertly repaired.Truth be told that fact (that I hit it)actually took some of the joy from the find as I was furious with my self....that is taboo!
The rarity I spoke of with this buckle is the fact the background is smooth versus the normal "lined",back ground we find with the other variations
. You got my vote For the banner! AA
but at least now I can bump the post. 
...but you'll get my banner vote ! 
