This Weekend...a Silver Knee Buckle and KGIII

[Lost Signal]

Got out twice this weekend and found some interesting stuff. My favorite find is the silver knee or hat buckle. I anticipate some debate on the material but I'm pretty sure it's fire damaged silver. (I'll test it later). It had its guts, but they were a solid glob of rust and I gave up trying to restore it.

On the other hunt, I broke the coin drought with a toasty KGIII Hibernia. Rough but I'll take it.

I'd love to get some feedback on the small buckle with the unusual chape. I haven't seen on like it. Wondering if it might be a spur buckle.

Also, found what I think is a fragment of powder flask with a deer on it. I searched hard for other pieces but found none.

Thanks for looking.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Lenrac2]

Great finds!

 

[JeffInMass]

That knee buckle is awesome and the rest aren't too shabby either- Congrats!

 

[scruggs]

Those are neat finds you made! Keep it up!

 

[Argentium]

Excellent finds ! Silver buckles are a tough find !!!

 

[HunterMF]

Awesome hunts! Congrats on the awesomeness!!

 

[Silvermonkey]

Nice finds LS. I would agree with your assessment about the knee buckle being fire damaged. Beautiful buckle!

 

[Shakakka]

Amazing finds! I'm hoping your knee buckle is solid silver, but it could also be silver washed/dipped. Back then many people did this to get the appearance of silver without the full cost. For example, here are a pair of silver-washed buckles I found at an old farmhouse on Long Island:



Either way, your finds are stellar! Let us know the results of your testing and keep it up!

 

[WannaDig3687]

Great finds, LS! Could that possibly be a dog and not a deer?

 

[erfranks]

Great Saves!!!

 

[Lost Signal]

Thanks everyone.

Shakakka,
Still looking for mbcuce's missing silver test. It's definitely solid but it could be some alloy that I'm not familiar with. I do have some fire damaged silver coins that have the same appearance, though. I've included a side view, so you can see how thin it is. I think if it was plated, they would have used a beefier stock. The rust is on the surface. The buckle's innards had swollen and spilled out over the surface of the frame. I've saved one that was similar but this one just crumbled away.


WannaDig,
Definitely could be a dog, now that I see yours. Thanks. That will help with searching for an exact match.

 

[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Hunk-a-lead]

very cool finds, well done

 

[brianc053]

Really nice finds. Were you able to uncover the date on the KGIII? It looks like it might have some detail under the dirt. (I Love KG coins....)

 

[Lost Signal]

Really nice finds. Were you able to uncover the date on the KGIII? It looks like it might have some detail under the dirt. (I Love KG coins....)

Thanks, Brian. I toothpicked it and brushed it, and can't see a date, but I feel like there is still a film of crust or dirt. Do you ever use the heated peroxide method? I'm inclined to leave it, but I do like getting a date.

 

[brianc053]

Thanks, Brian. I toothpicked it and brushed it, and can't see a date, but I feel like there is still a film of crust or dirt. Do you ever use the heated peroxide method? I'm inclined to leave it, but I do like getting a date.

Lost, I try to use dry methods to the greatest extent possible. Specifically I like Andre's Pencils a lot, although I'm told tightly wound fine steel wool in some sort of tube (a thin straw maybe) can work like an Andre's Pencil.
I haven't had too much luck with liquids - they always seem to expose the pitted surface of the coin, and I feel like once that's exposed the coin looks worse than it did when there was dirt on it.

I posted a couple of threads about this exact subject that you might enjoy: (I have no idea why there is weird text throughout the post that looks like "?€™")

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/650751-large-copper-how-clean-properly.html
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/652171-cleaning-another-copper.html

 

[mbcuce]

Can't find anything like that small buckle. Closest thing I see is the spur buckle. May be something else like horse tack buckle but from the same era, 1700's maybe.

 

[Lost Signal]

Can't find anything like that small buckle. Closest thing I see is the spur buckle. May be something else like horse tack buckle but from the same era, 1700's maybe.

I was thinking it might be a spur buckle too, but the ones that are similar to mine have a loop that is oriented in the opposite direction, so that they can link to the spur hardware. The one I found wouldn't seem to work for that, so maybe it's from a bridle or something. It's still different from any that I've seen. Hmmmmmm.


https://finds.org.uk/counties/findsrecordingguides/spurs/#18th-_and_19th-century_spurs

 

[CRUSADER]

I was thinking it might be a spur buckle too, but the ones that are similar to mine have a loop that is oriented in the opposite direction, so that they can link to the spur hardware. The one I found wouldn't seem to work for that, so maybe it's from a bridle or something. It's still different from any that I've seen. Hmmmmmm.

https://finds.org.uk/counties/findsrecordingguides/spurs/#18th-_and_19th-century_spurs

Very interesting not seen this type either.
Maybe a boot buckle??

 

[awdw]

Well if Crusader hasn’t seen one, good luck finding an example.