NJ stream gives up A TON of bullets and two strange mystery objects!!

[VolcaNick]

Been having unusually warm weather over the weekend in NJ so I decided to throw on the waders and see what this old stream near me had to offer. I don't normally have luck in streams due to the thick silt that tends to build up but this one had large boulders in it which proved to be way more productive than I expected. One flat boulder in the stream had a "step" shape in it which lucky for me had the high step down stream. This trapped hundreds of metal objects, mostly bullets and bullet fragments. After fanning away the silt I saw a three ringer looking back at me. I even pulled my first musket ball out of here I was beside myself!!!


Onto the first mystery object which is a printing plate that reads "col ital 3line box MESSMAHI" no idea what that means. Any thoughts??


The second unknown is what I'm thinking could be a belt buckle? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[trapperart]

Nice assortment of finds congrats and good luck with ID

 

[wolf74623]

looks like a number 5 bent over , but pretty sure its not a buckle. however I would certainly give the area a few more hunts like where did the bullets wash down from ? great finds

 

[VolcaNick]

looks like a number 5 bent over , but pretty sure its not a buckle. however I would certainly give the area a few more hunts like where did the bullets wash down from ? great finds

Oh wow you are right, didn't even consider it might be bent. Could be modern like off of a house or something. Thanks!

 

[gmsaf]

I think the second mystery object is a house number, a bent number 2.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

The number 2 I would think is fairly modern, mid 20th century on anyway, with it just having studs on the back it looks like it would use push on lock rings to mount to a mail box or something... no clue on the printing block, it's odd for sure. Nice hunt!

these type lock rings.....