RelicDude,
Your find is indeed as Tim has pointed out, a portion of a Tongue & Wreath belt buckle. You have the outer half of the buckle, being the wreath portion. These are usually seen in die stamped brass, although there are some that appear in copper as well. The stamped Tongue & Wreath (T&W) belt buckles featuring a variety of decorative styles, gained widespread popularity during the 1850's through early 1860's. This is a civilian fashion belt buckle, most often associated with the clothing attire of women and children during the mid-19th Century. From study of period photographs, it has been noted that men on occasion also wore these smaller fancy buckles.
Over the years the common term for these stamped T&W buckles parleyed among diggers, dealers, and collectors, has been "Sash Buckles". Extensive study of period photographic images, principally daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, has shown these stamped brass buckles on thin leather belts, woven cloth belts, and elastic rubber belts. Period newspaper advertisements also describe these as belts for men, women, and children. In all accuracy, none of these types of thin stamped "Fancy" T&W buckles have been noted on anything resembling a sash.
A mid-1800's photograph here below shows a nearly identical T&W buckle, to the excavated wreath at the beginning of this topic. The young lad here is wearing his buckle on a thin leather belt.
CC Hunter
