Unidentified Buckle

[relicdigger3]

Found this buckle on a civil war site a while back. Does anyone know if this was used solely by the military or was it also used by civilians? Also, what would be the date range for this buckle?

 

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[vhs07]

Size? My old scuba mask in the late 60's had a buckle like that.

 

[duggap]

Those are called buckle covers. They are used on saddle buckles to keep the horse's tail from sticking in the buckles. Or something like that.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your find is specifically called a "buckle shield." As Duggap indicated, its purpose was to cover various buckles on a horse's harness which might get snagged on bushes, vines, and even the horse's long tail-hairs (see the text in the advertisement image, below). The specific version you found was invented by David Mosman of New Britain CT and was US-patented by him in 1879. Mosman buckle-shields which were manufactured during the US Patent's 17-year lifespan were marked with the Patent's date, Dec. 16, 1879. See the photo showing a marked one, below. Also, here are the original US Patent issuance form, and its descriptive diagram. The fourth image below is a scan from the 1895 Montgomery-Ward mailorder catalog, selling these buckle-shields to the public. Note, the catalog miss-spells Mosman's name.

As proven above, despite what some Ebay sellers claim, these buckle are not Confederate, not from the civil war, and were sold for Civilian usage, although it's likely that the US Military did use some of them, because buckle-shields are simply generic horse-harness equipment.

 

[relicdigger3]

That's awesome! Thanks for the info cannonballguy!

 

[tennessee digger]

Very good ID on that buckle cover, thanks Pete.

 

[lenmac65]

Thanks for posting this. I found the very same object a few weeks ago and had no idea ehat it was. You got some real interesting responses. Congrats on the find.

 

[lenmac65]

Your find is specifically called a "buckle shield." As Duggap indicated, its purpose was to cover various buckles on a horse's harness which might get snagged on bushes, vines, and even the horse's long tail-hairs (see the text in the advertisement image, below). The specific version you found was invented by David Mosman of New Britain CT and was US-patented by him in 1879. Mosman buckle-shields which were manufactured during the US Patent's 17-year lifespan were marked with the Patent's date, Dec. 16, 1879. See the photo showing a marked one, below. Also, here are the original US Patent issuance form, and its descriptive diagram. The fourth image below is a scan from the 1895 Montgomery-Ward mailorder catalog, selling these buckle-shields to the public. Note, the catalog miss-spells Mosman's name.

As proven above, despite what some Ebay sellers claim, these buckle are not Confederate, not from the civil war, and were sold for Civilian usage, although it's likely that the US Military did use some of them, because buckle-shields are simply generic horse-harness equipment.

What a great post. Thanks for taking the time to put together such a detailed response, as it helped me identify mine too. Wish my cover was dated, but I do know it is old based on location.

 

[mdj]

What a great post. Thanks for taking the time to put together such a detailed response, as it helped me identify mine too. Wish my cover was dated, but I do know it is old based on location.

Ditto, this site is great for I'ding finds.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Here are a couple of later 'decorative' buckle shield examples I found on a c1915 - 25 horse paddock site near where I live.

Nice find,
Dave