XP Deus/ GB Power mode......Today's meager finds....plus the "what is this thang?"

Took that XP Deus out today. The area where I was hunting was a stretch of woods/undeveloped land within the city limits. It is on a ridge overlooking a large year-round spring. Many bullets (oddly....no buttons), a CSA rectangular buckle (by my friend with an ACE 250), at leats 40 teardrop 36 cal Navy Colt Revolver bullets.....and more.....have come out of here by my friend and me. Today, these two items came out of there. A 1944 Mercury dime (that rascal was just under the leaves!!!! ....on top of bare ground, once the decaying leaves had been pushed aside. This other item was about 6 inches down (not counting the 'leaf strata'). It has odd markings on it. See them?? Little dimples? Maybe a buckle from a ladies shoe? Seems like the ground is full of stuff that I just simply cannot picture being used for anything!!!! It's odd!!!! An oddity!!!! I even said "BOOOOOOM BAAABBBBYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!! when I pulled it from the soil. I thought that little gesture might increase it's value. (That was joke......I don't hunt for profit. If I did,.......I would be staying in the 'red' all the time. Just having a little fun at the Televsion Detecting shows expense. Anyway......here.....have a look-see. And if ya happen to recognize that little twirled up piece of brass.......please......do inform me of it's identity. Much obliged to ya for looking....OH....and Merry Christmas!!!!

Looks to be a small ornate buckle Kevin...its just bent into...

Put it in some boiling water and get it hot and it should fold back out...

A tip for you is to bend items straight as soon as you find them or they will turn brittle...if I had not straightened that half U.S. buckle out as soon as I found it ,by the time I got home and did it it would of broke...

Never have figured it out but brass has to be straightened as soon as it hits the air...

Nice Dime !!

Keith

Thanks Keith. I will try boiling it and then straightening it. If I break it....no big deal. It is just going into my container for (what are they's). Thanks again Keith!!!!! Do you have a receptacle that you keep the items like this that you find???? I have sevral full tupperware bowls full. I'm afaraid to throw any of them away!!! LOL
Thanks again!

I realise it's not a priceless relic, Kevin, but the boiling water method may end in failure, due to the severity of the bend. More bending will only introduce work-hardening, and risk breakage. If you truly want to have the greatest chance of success, I suggest annealing the buckle, bend it some, re-anneal, repeat until finished. You can find the details of annealing online, but basically it involves heating to a dull cherry red, maintaining it at that temperature for 30 secs minimum, and quenching (dunking) in cold water. This will soften it up noticeably, but the unbending process re-hardens the metal, so re-annealing is usually needed. If nothing else, it's good practice for when you do find something better. The process is the same for silver, though use a slightly lower temperature, only just starting to be red).
I've found items with similar dimple patterns here in the UK, there were originally 'stones' glued into each dimple. Typically they would be glass, non-precious stones or 'paste'. Here's an example of a clothing fastener with these dimples:
[www.ukdfd.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2013 06:43PM by Pimento.

I got it bent back. (I still don't know what it is as when it is flattened out it looks less like a buck than before. Maybe some kind of hair thing. But I took two pair of needlenose and after getting it hot,,,,,,,I just bend it back roughly. Then, got it hot again, and layed it on a towel on a table and with a ball peen hammer......beat it flat. (Well, not TOTALLY flat......but in a general flat shape. It looks like the number "8"........but with dimples in it. When it ws new brass....I bet it was purty. They ised alot of brass back then didn't they?! By the way, I appreciate your reply!!!!!