I found a WH buckle - Need Help

[TOS1981]

Hi!

I am new in this forum. I come from Germany and i have found this Belt buckle from Heer with my metal detektor, but i dont no which material it is. It is no aluminiumor iron. Can it be nickel?







Thx!
Tim

[Bob Lusk]

Hi Tim
Are you sure it's not aluminum?.. if not... it's probably steel I dont think they made a zinc version of this buckle but I may be wrong.

Welcome to the forum

Bob

[TOS1981]

It is definitely no aluminium. The buckle on the left is Alu but the rigth one must be nickel,steel, etc. ????

[Bob Lusk]

Tim,
I bet against nickle, and lay my money on steel

Let's see if anyone else wants to venture a guess.

Bob

[Kurt Doench]

If it was really found with a metal detector - great piece! I'll bet my a*** it's Neusilber (lots of things in there, mostly copper and nickel, but sure as hell no aluminium or iron). - One more item that sets us thinking about early WH buckles.

Greetings,

Schleppfux

[keifer kahn]

i see the argument nickle vs steel.
if its steel ,it will be magnetic.If its nickel,it wont be.

If you are trying to find clues for nickel,look for golden yellow couloured deposits or spots.Nickel goes golden yellow with age and oxidation.
Also if the above buckle is nickel,you shouldnt find any rust.

Nickel is one of the ferrous triad,which consists of raw iron,nickel and cobalt.Nickel in its raw state has very,very mild magnetic properties but when it is the major element in an alloy,the magnetism is virtually undetectable.
Nickel is also used in the manufacture of electro magnets.Not due to its magenetic properties but it corrosion resistance.

if the above buckle is indeed,nickel, then it,1)shouldnt be magnetic.2)shouldnt have rust.


regards keifer

[TOS1981]

It is no magnetic.
Here is a photo from the buckle as i found it.



Tim

[keifer kahn]

Hi,
well you can eliminate steel if its not magnetic.
the discolouring in the last photo is consistent with ground dug items wether they are nickel,aluminium or zink.
You can eliminate zink from the equation due to the fact that it has virtually no corrosion.
Ground dug zink items this age would normally show heavy pitting, zinkpest and the typical white sulfate spots and patches.

Ground dug aluminium rots very much like zink,but normally aluminium will show large holes(like someone has dropped acid on it) as aversed to pits and the cancer style corrosion associated with zink).
Also aluminium is very light weight and you usually know as soon as you pick it up,especially if you are holding a comparative steel buckle in the other hand.Obviously aluminium is non magnetic.

That leaves us with nickel.The buckle has little corrosion nor disfigurement.The first photos you posted which i assume were taken after you lightly cleaned it,show the correct colour for nickel.The mild corrosion spotting is the correct colour for nickel deposits.Also ,as i have said,nickel in this form wont be magnetic.
A nickel buckle should weigh close to a steel one.i would bet that this would be comparatively close to the same weight.

I personally think from the description and pics provided that your buckle is in fact Nickel or at least a nickel alloy.

Last point, even though steel and aluminium are recognised as the most common and well known base metals for these type of buckles.(including zink for the late war ones,as well),nickel was used in the manufacture of some pre war Heer buckles.

So you may have a slightly rarer buckle.

regards keifer