Old buckle? Square nail?

[BrettCo124]

Hi all,

I detect on a revolutionary war battlefield, and I found a couple of things I was curious about. Can you help ID the items in the photos?

Does the belt buckle appear to be old?

Did I find my first square nail? Or are nails still being produced like this today?

What is this last thing? Any ideas?!

Thanks everyone.

 

[toasted]

You got yourself a late 18th century shoe buckle frame. Nice find

 

[BrettCo124]

Wait, really?!! If that’s true, it’s the oldest thing I’ve ever found! How certain are you? Do you think it’s from the war?

 

[toasted]

Wait, really?!! If that’s true, it’s the oldest thing I’ve ever found! How certain are you? Do you think it’s from the war?

Fairly certain though far from an expert. It should date to around the revolution and could be a soldiers based on your location

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice old shoe buckle...congratulations!

 

[Jeff H]

That could be a shoe buckle frame, but it would be a BIG one. Nice find no matter what it is. That appears to be a genuine square nail.

 

[BrettCo124]

Thanks everyone! I’m completely at loss of words if this truly is old. Can anyone else weigh in, as well? I’ll take more photos just to be certain! I have not a single clue what constitutes an old buckle versus modern! I do see a hole in the middle of the buckle, not sure if that means anything or not...

 

[against the wind]

Yep, the hole is where the leather belt would go. lol
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Congrats on real pretty colonial buckle.

 

[texjim]

Nice job on the old artifacts...

 

[BrettCo124]

Lol I figured so! I’m still completely mesmerized at this find. It’s a big one for me. I can’t understand how it could be dated to the 1700s without any engravings or anything on it... have you all just encountered so many of these in the past that you know 100 percent it’s old? I just don’t want to get too excited and then come to find it came off of a Red Wing shoe haha

 

[against the wind]

Back in colonial times,, they had
Red Coats but no Red Wings,, lol

 

[BrettCo124]

Lol. But how do I know for sure?! Is it just by shape alone? Modern buckles aren’t shaped like this?!

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on the old buckle frame

 

[Ahab8]

Lol. But how do I know for sure?! Is it just by shape alone? Modern buckles aren’t shaped like this?!

Brett let me put your mind at ease. Shoe buckles basically fell out of favor by the very early 1800s. It is indeed a shoe buckle and very likely late 1700s. As for the size I've found some that are much bigger. Congrats on your oldest find. I love finding shoe buckles

 

[pepperj]

Nice going on the buckle, congrats

The square nail looks like what has been referred to as a clip. It's a late 1800s nail. The other piece reminds me of the center of a cap gun, where the roll of caps go and are fed through the slot. Except most are made if pot metal and your piece looks like it's iron.

 

[dts52]

Nice going on the buckle, congrats

The square nail looks like what has been referred to as a clip. It's a late 1800s nail. The other piece reminds me of the center of a cap gun, where the roll of caps go and are fed through the slot. Except most are made if pot metal and your piece looks like it's iron.

pepperj beat me to it. The other part is, indeed,where the roll of paper caps was held in the capgun. At least until we got bored and took the roll out and set them off by hitting them with rocks.
Congrats on a beautiful buckle.
HH
dts

 

[BrettCo124]

Thanks everyone! I’m pretty ecstatic about this find. A first for me, and proved that the grounds I am on can still contain revolutionary war-era relics. I was about to call it, just figuring the grounds have turned so much since then. This proved me wrong!