Louisiana 14th Infantry Officers Buckle. My very best find.

[dg39]

I usually hang around the what is it thread more than any other, but I have been meaning to post this for some time and have not had the chance nor time to do so. I found this little gem about four years ago while digging near a battle site in south Louisiana. I really don't want to tell where because I still find things and it is on private land. From what I can determine from talking with relic hunters and friends it is very rare. It is cast metal rather than brass. At one time it was probably gold gilded. To top it off on the back is engraved: Louisiana-- 14 Infantry--1863.
Also where it was found the 14th did not fight, so it could have been from the uniform of a soldier who was on furlow or who had been transfered to another unit. I put a bit of chalk in the engraving to show it off. It was found about 6 to 8 inches down with my White's 6000 DI Pro.
My legs were so weak I just sat down in a mud puddle and looked at it for about what seemed to be a half hour. I was by my self so I had to wait till I got back to civilization to show it off.
You don't see these too often so enjoy. I really would like to get an idea on its worth. I've seen a lot of figures low to quite high. Several near $5000.00.
DG

 

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[BuckleBoy]

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I rubbed some black chalk on the back of it so that you can see the engraving.

 

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[dg39]

He has found rifle tampon in the field with initials and company scratched on it , also.
DG

Um what exactly is that And PLEASE omg PLEASE DO NOT POST A PIC hehe.

A device inserted into the rifle barrel to prevent dirt from entering.
A plug. (I knew someone would post the obvious. It seems some of us are not as knowledgeable as we pretend to be. Including myself of course.)
DG

 

[PBK]

Er... that's tompion.




Of course, if in those days they'd had...

Never mind.

 

[dg39]

Er... that's tompion.







Of course, if in those days they'd had...

Never mind.

I just tried to simplify things PBK. Obscure words sometimes get them confused.
DG

 

[Stormtrooper154]

If it was a fake...Then why would the person faking it drive all the way out to BFE to a battleground and bury it there? Why not put it in their backyard where they know that no one with a metal detector would find it! I know if I was going to fake one, I wouldn't sneak onto a private site without permission (mentioned in the first post), dig a hole in someones land, bury it, then sneak back onto said land years later to unearth it if it was still there.

Seems like a lot of work to me....But I am not a relic hunter

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Show me photo proof and I will accept it. I just know how it was found. No big deal. The only reason I posted was to show an example. If it is as you claim, someone put a LOT of work in it.
I do know I have a good friend who has a 15 by 20 foot room in his house full of relics and has been digging since the late 1950's. He assured me it was probably real. He has found rifle tampon in the field with initials and company scratched on it and even traced down a picture of the owner, so I trust his judgement. Down here in the center of the Red River Campaign you find a lot of unbelievable relics. Oh, and this was found about 7 years ago, also.
DG

If you just Google it.. there are plenty of pics of both.. Hanover Brass makes a lot of them. All I'm saying is I would have it check. You stated in the original post that you wanted to know what the actual value was since there is a huge swing on valuations.. the only way to do this is have it authenticated... I would do this even if I dug it.. heck.. I took my SNY plate and had it checked!! SNY plate in this post:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,77973.0.html

I dug it... but it was only a couple inches in the ground pretty close to camp that has been dug for years and it just looked too good... so I took it to Centerville Electronics just to be sure.. and it's real.. "one of the nicest I've ever seen" I think was the comment...

The other thing about finding something marked by the owner... I can see putting you Name and unit.. I'm am a former Marine.. we did this all the time.. but why put the year? It just does not make any sense.. that is the first thing that struck me when I was reading up on fakes... the only reason to put a year on something is so "we" think it is from that time... also.. if you read up on fakes, some of them are stamped with a date by the reenactment sutlers selling them today. So when it comes down to it.. considering it is possibly a $5000+ item if the name and unit matched up... I'd get that puppy looked at!!! We are not talking about a run of the mill US plate here...

Oh.. and feel free to use the obscure words!! I think we are smart enough to figure them out... ;-)

 

[RockyDig]

Harry Ridgeway is selling two Lousianna 2 pc buckles....one for $10,000 and the other for $12,000. OH, and both have buyers. Great find!!!

www.relicman.com