Buckle ?

[lowtones83]

hello everybody i need some help. I don't know what this is . i went out hunting around an area where a British fort was back in the 1700's . Is this some sort of buckle ? it looks like it had a pin running down the inside center . ca n anyone help me out?
Thanks
lowtones83

 

[RelicDigger1]

It's a shoe buckle, LT. If your fort is mid-1700s, then this definately came from the site. There was indeed a pin that spanned the center of the buckle and was used as the attachment device.

Very nice example. Most are bent, mangled or only a portion is found.

Hope this helps.

Richard

 

[1859large]

I found an old one last summer and first thought the innerds where another buckle. I recovered the frame (what you have) first and the chape second from the same hole (which was full of water).

If you google the history of shoe buckles you will find some interesting sites.

Or this one:

http://www.netmarshall.co.uk/buckletitlepage.htm

A very similar one here:

http://www.netmarshall.co.uk/bucklepage20.htm

They can be roughly dated by size and generally got larger as time went on, going from a little more than an inch across in 1675 to 3" + towards the 1770s. They went out of fashion in the French Revolution and where replaced by laces.

HH

1859