Civil war belt buckle?

jaybirdhgr

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Folks,

I've commented on lots of posts, but have never found anything that I thought was worthy of a post. I'm hoping that changed today.

Here's the story. I went today and searched a 1920s era house where I had recently gotten permission. Workers were outside doing renovations on the house next door, so I asked and received permission for that yard, too.

The first yard was pretty much a bust. I moved to the second yard and I'm only finding old house junk. Plus, my Equinox has this annoying "feature" of making large rusty nails sound very promising. Anyway, I work my way to the side yard and get a good high tone (32-34) showing decent depth so I begin to dig. Flip back the plug and pinpointer tells me its deeper. I take out another shovel of dirt and, sure enough, an old, rusty nail in the side wall of the hole. I fill the hole and move on to a target about 10 feet away.

As I start to dig, I see a clump of dirt on the end of the Sampson shovel and notice something unusual on the clump of dirt. The clump of dirt and a buckle then fall off the shovel blade. This is the first picture.

I pick up the buckle and recognize what it is but I'm not sure if it's real or a replica. I didn't see it until after the hole was already filled, but based on it being scooped out of the already open plug, I estimate it was about 7-8 inches deep.

I was hunting in East Tennessee. I've done some research tonight and learned that the community where this was dug is believed to have housed some Confederate hospitals. The buckle has not yet been cleaned. The last pic includes the rusty nail.

I'm not a relic hunter so this was a surprise. It sure looks authentic but I was hoping to get some feedback here. What do you think?
 

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I’m not a confederate buckle expert but I know a lot of people are. I hope someone can confirm that it’s real! It looks like it could be.


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From what I can see, I would say you have a real good one there. Clean it up and show some pics of the front and back. There may be a way just from the pics to verify it is good.
 
From what I can see, I would say you have a real good one there. Clean it up and show some pics of the front and back. There may be a way just from the pics to verify it is good.

Any special cleaning tips? As I said, I haven't dug many relics.
 
That is a great find. Are you back to breathing normal now? Congratulations

Thank you. To be honest, I've been trying not to get too excited until I confirm its the real deal. It looks so good though, and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity. I just don't have any significant experience with CW relics.
 
I’d like to recommend taking your time and lightly dry brushing the dirt away at first and work your way up to brushing with water. You can always clean it more but as soon as you over clean it there is no going back. I’ve had back luck removing patina by overdoing it with brush and water. Regardless just take your time and get it looking pretty without removing the old look it has.
 
What you have is the real deal! be careful if you clean it. I would just wash the dirt off of it. I found one here in Va. two years ago got to checking on value. The buckle is worth $3500.00 to $4000.00 Super rare find! I was told if you clean off the patina it is worth very little. here are the pictures of mine I would not part with it for any amount of money. Found mine at an old house site also.
 

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On the Atlanta style and Virginia style, above the period that comes after the A, there is a small point that is raised up. That is from the hook on the back. If your plate doesn't have that, it still does't mean it's not original, but if you do have it you can rest assured it's good.
 
fantastic find! Thanks for the TID reading. Best I had from someone else was 32-39 but yours is a tighter number.

Be very careful as others have said on cleaning this jewel.
 
It’s real and fantastic. As you have been told less is more in the cleaning department. Awesome find.
 
I’d like to recommend taking your time and lightly dry brushing the dirt away at first and work your way up to brushing with water. You can always clean it more but as soon as you over clean it there is no going back. I’ve had back luck removing patina by overdoing it with brush and water. Regardless just take your time and get it looking pretty without removing the old look it has.

Mistersippi, thanks for the advice.

Forgot to post this here is a place to check it out get in touch with them and they will tell you if it is real or not and give you a value. www.armyoftennesseerelics.com/confederate-belt-buckles Hope this helps you out looks to be the real deal to me!

Thank you, bdu1962

On the Atlanta style and Virginia style, above the period that comes after the A, there is a small point that is raised up. That is from the hook on the back. If your plate doesn't have that, it still does't mean it's not original, but if you do have it you can rest assured it's good.

Thank you for the information, duggap.

Duggap is right, Atlanta Style! Very nice!

Thank you, W.

Excellent finds!

Thank you, DN

It’s real and fantastic. As you have been told less is more in the cleaning department. Awesome find.

Thanks, Gaspipe.
 
That is an incredible story! If you had stood up, stabbed your shovel in the dirt, adjusted your britches, and moved on, that clump could've been left sitting there!

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