Jerry Kirkland has collected these various buckles from hunting with his metal detector at old house sites. They are an assortment of men and women’s civilian dress, waist and shoe buckles made of brass with gold and silver plating. All date pre-1860 and help date the various house sites where they are discovered. They vary from 1 by 1 inch to 2 by 4 inches.
Jerry mostly does relic hunting in the Lowcountry, focusing on areas in Beaufort and Charleston. He goes about a dozen times a year between January and April. Relic hunters usually choose to avoid snakes, ticks and other insects that are out in the summer, and they wait for deer season to end before setting out in the cooler months. For more about his collection, read the feature on page 78.
