1850s STAR MILITIA BELT PANEL PLATE! CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES!

[kyle369]

I was metal detecting today with my trusty Garrett Ace 250 at my mom's new house in Sudlersville, MD (Upper Eastern Shore), which apparently dates back to 1910. I had detected there once before and had found a bunch of clad and a '57 wheatie; the wheat had raised my hopes for this hunt today. Found a lot more clad and a '41 wheatie, but the highlight of the day was this "belt buckle" that I had found several inches down after pulling out pieces of iron (thank god for my AT Propointer!) I was glad I avoided scratching it more than twice, but I had NO IDEA how incredible my find was until I got home. Considering the age of the house I figured it would be a Victorian era (late 19th-early 20th century) belt buckle, perhaps a civilian repro of a military buckle after I noticed the thirteen stars. NOPE!

It is a US STAR MILITIA PANEL (BELT) PLATE DATING CIRCA 1850-1865!!! (A spitting image of the one Steve in PA found!)









WHAT IS IT DOING IN A 1910 YARD?!?!

Perhaps it's a bit older than 1910...

An 1877 atlas of the county shows a house near exactly where my mom's house is, and with the exact same shape!!!

It was apparently the residence of a "Wm. Nickerson"

I'll have to do more research on this guy and see if he was part of a local/state militia!

Cheers, Kyle

 

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[NEPADIGGER7]

Great find man!!

 

[Old Dude]

Big congrats. That's a bucket lister for sure.

 

[DocBeav]

BEAUTIFUL Buckle my friend! Congrats on THAT bucket lister!

 

[Inspector]

Awesome save & really nice condition, congrats on the save

 

[Silvermonkey]

What a find! That's what I find so enjoyable about this hobby. You just never know what's going to come out of the ground. Kyle- your buckle is fantastic! Congratulations!

 

[DiggerKid2003]

Im always scared of finding something that good because I might have a heart attack Oh and just like his, yours should get banner.

 

[DigginNorthernVa]

Sweet find! Way to go!

 

[Digger RJ]

Awesome!!! Congrats!!!

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

It's a Banner Baby Buckled, Buckle Bucket-Lister!
Kudos!
Carl

 

[GB1]

BANNER!

 

[Steve in PA]

Congrats on that belt plate I found mine almost exactly one year ago, June 16, 2018. Mine made banner and so should your's. My vote going in now!

P.S. I wouldn't get to aggressive cleaning it. Soft toothbrush and no water.

 

[Valley Ranger]

Epic, historic save!

 

[Joe-Dirt]

Wow!!! That’s awesome, I vote banner!!

 

[A2coins]

Boom baby thats what its all about. Well done

 

[Hawks88]

Beautiful piece of history SAVED. Banner!!!

 

[toasted]

Congrats. Nice find and not too far from me either

 

[Digger Dude]

Awesome find!

 

[CRUSADER]

 

[VTColonialDigger]

That is an incredible and historic find!