Unknown clasp that was found in Tas

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Hi all,

I'm only new to this forum. I found this really old clasp when I was visiting my dad down in Tassie last week using my Minelab safari
1543282851_img_0729.jpg
.

On it are the words "The Plimsoll Clasp".

Any ideas about where and what the history of it is please.

Regards,

Speedy
 
Welcome to the forum Speedy

Can I correct you, it is a really cool old clasp :cool:

Looks like it could be off a merchant ship officers sword belt end or cloak clasp to me, any chance of flipping it obver and taking another photo.
 
It is most likely to have been associated with a shipping safety message. Samual Plimsoll spearheaded the bill to legislate the marking of a safe loading water line on merchant ships, having spent some time as a coal merchant.

Today the red line we see on ships is called the plimsoll line.

The bill was passed in 1876, so the buckle was probably manufactured a couple of years after that, when the political momentum associated with the bill was still active.
 
Wally69 said:
It is most likely to have been associated with a shipping safety message. Samual Plimsoll spearheaded the bill to legislate the marking of a safe loading water line on merchant ships, having spent some time as a coal merchant.
Today the red line we see on ships is called the plimsoll line.

You may be thinking of the border between the red anti-fouling paint and the hull colour. The Plimsoll line is usually white:
https://tinyurl.com/ya994jlj
 
Plimsoll was also a type of shoe, this is from good old Wikipedia -

The shoe was originally, and often still is in parts of the United Kingdom, called a "sand shoe" and acquired the nickname "plimsoll" in the 1870s.

Possibly this clasp was from a shoe of that era??
 
Here is a photo of the other side of the clasp. I think its from the 1870's.
1543357282_img_0730.jpg


That same day I found over 50 silver and copper coins, one was from the 1850's. I also found a medal from Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1887. It looks like a cross with all her mile stones through her life.
 
Hi all,

here is some more stuff that is really cool.

The snake on the buckle is awesome. the smaller clasp ???
1543375697_img_0733.jpg

1543375698_img_0732.jpg
 
Youre onto a ripper of a site there. The cricket buckle is a design Ive not seen before. What size is the Plimsoll clasp? Bigger or smaller than the cricket buckle?
 
The plimsoll clasp is twice as big as the cricket clasp. There is still clothing material behind the clip on the plimsoll clasp.

Are these clasps made of brass or bronze ?
 
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