20ish years of wishing summed up in a day!

[FunWithTreasure]

Man. Let me start by saying I broke my own rule and I'm glad I did! I went to my new field to look for more arrowheads after finding a nice one the other day. I never mix detecting with artifact hunting. I feel one takes away from the other. But being a new field I did anyway. I found a small pistol ball and a musket ball. Then this buckle? Or box plate. Not sure which. Honestly I don't care. Lol. A find like this in NY never is rare and I have been wanting to find a US item for ever. I stood in one spot for 20 mins jumping and making phone calls. I am so excited. Anyone know if it's a buckle or plate? I am still in shock. Kept detecting found a buckle and some type of a coper ball? I rinsed the U.S. Item off. Should I clean it with a tooth brush or leave it? Can't believe it finally happened.

 

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[K1DDO1979]

Sweet find. I don't know much about them but would love to find one. Not a good chance though up here in Nova Scotia! [emoji2]

 

[FunWithTreasure]

Not a good chance here but it happened. You never know

 

[texjim]

Love the patina on it.. Nice job

 

[FunWithTreasure]

I am debating if I should try to toothbrush some more dirt off

 

[david680]

Great find!

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs. Brush it off, it well look even better.

 

[DMN]

Wait for the CW lads to chime in. They'll be able to tell you the best way to clean and preserve it.
The best finds are the ones you never ever expect. BTW I think it is a box plate.

 

[parsonwalker]

It appears to be a later-war (Like 1863-1865) buckle or plate. Early war had fatter, squatter letters. If you see ANY evidence of iron wire, or rust where iron WAS on the back, then it is a box plate. I can't tell from the photos. Maybe a photo of the back DRY. Plates had iron attachments, buckles had brass attachments. So looking for traces of iron will be your smoking gun. BTW - even though the back is toast, it's still a really nice piece and will display well. CLEANING - everybody has an opinion! Here's mine: under running water, use a SOFT bristle toothbrush to remove as much dirt as you can. Look frequently at the area you're cleaning. If any of the green patina is coming off, STOP! When you've done all the soft bristle removal you can, let it dry completely and work at stubborn areas with a DRY toothpick. Same rule, if you lose green, STOP. It will display beautifully just like it is. Now here's the part MANY will disagree with and call me a heretic! I had a buckle that had "concretion." The dirt had become like concrete, literally. I got as much as I could off, but didn't like the way the buckle LOOKED. Nice green Patina, and then a very light colored dirt clinging to it. Dirt I could NOT get off without damaging the patina. So I (Oh, some people aren't going to like this...) I rubbed the entire brass area with mink oil. It darkened the "concreted" dirt and I love the look of it now.

My advice: Do the water/soft toothbrush/dry toothpick and let it sit in your display case for at least a couple of weeks. Only do the mink oil if you just DON'T like the way it looks, after a couple of weeks of gazing at it, which I'm sure you'll do if you're like me.

Here's my mink-oiled example at the end.

 

[Metal Illness]

Big Congrats!! High on my wish list as well after five years of detecting. Such a cool piece of History!

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Hi FWT, lovely green there for sure !!! Hope something buckle like even turns up under my coil soon !

 

[Iron Patch]

Sweet find. I don't know much about them but would love to find one. Not a good chance though up here in Nova Scotia! [emoji2]

But still a chance, one found here.


Good find!

 

[K1DDO1979]

But still a chance, one found here.


Good find!

You give me hope. I got out for a hunt today for the first time in months. Lots of snow and ice but a few soft spots opening up. A little work but I did pull out a little flat button at least! [emoji2]

 

[trdking]

I would LOVE to find one but So Cal living It is highly unlikely to un earth one Sniff. I need to move to the south.

 

[Iron Patch]

You give me hope. I got out for a hunt today for the first time in months. Lots of snow and ice but a few soft spots opening up. A little work but I did pull out a little flat button at least! [emoji2]

Yeah it`s coming for sure. But be careful what you wish for because any marked military plate you`d dig at one of your old sites would almost certainly be much rarer and more valuable than a US buckle.

 

[K1DDO1979]

Yeah it`s coming for sure. But be careful what you wish for because any marked military plate you`d dig at one of your old sites would almost certainly be much rarer and more valuable than a US buckle.

Good to know. I like the sound of that. Haha
I'm always careful digging whenever possible! [emoji2]

 

[Iron Patch]

Good to know. I like the sound of that. Haha
I'm always careful digging whenever possible! [emoji2]

They are rare for a reason, but I can guarantee you there is some five figure military plates in the ground waiting to be dug up. No question about that.

 

[FunWithTreasure]

Thanks guys. There is iron rust in a spot on back so it is a plate. I love it to death. Next to my Washington inaugural button it's my favorite find. Wish I still had the button. But I had to sell it years ago.

 

[park pirate]

Wow nice job...