English buckle?

[mintcombo]

Just got my first detector - this stuff is fun Found this near a 1700's English fort in the Caribbean (West Indies). Is this a buckle?

 

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[DownNDirty]

The letters "RANGERS" or "RNIGERS" (whichever is right) are far more distinct than the very faint letters preceding them. I believe that the plate originally had a different inscription at the bottom and someone hand-inscribed the legible letters over them later on.

 

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[DownNDirty]

Also the patina on the "RANGERS/RNIGERS" letters is lighter than the design above it and the line around the letters at the bottom. And you can see where the outline around the letters has been touched up at the top right; maybe it had faded there. So if my theory is correct, the real questions are 1)who scribed the letters and more importantly 2)when. The second question opens up a whole new can of worms if you get my drift.

It is very suspicious that the original poster has not added any comments since he posted the pictures.

 

[Scrappy]

To me it looks like the inscription came at a much later date than the plate. Or: It looks like fresh gouges perhaps from improper cleaning. Perhaps in haste, the person cleaning the plate tried to scrape out the original engraving, and screwed up the letters which is causing all the confusion