Odd Prussian Buckle

[Geoff Ward]

Hello all, my wife ran across this Prussian buckle in a box of car parts today. I don't recall seeing this type of attachment with tabs and slender claw attachment??
sorry for the poor quality photos but any help or comments appreciated

Regards, Geoff

[Gwar]

Interesting buckle, is the roundel soldered on the reverse where the tabs are affixed and bent ?

[Geoff Ward]

Thank you Gwar, It is difficult to tell.. the roundel appears to have been soldered on by looking at the front edge where the brass meets the buckle itself. From the reverse it is hard to say, as the two holes are full of debris. Here are a few more detailed pics.

[kirby]

It is a interesting buckle. The prongs looked like they have had the tips snipped off. Here is one I have with the roundel attached with prongs.

[Geoff Ward]

Thanks Kirby, the tabs on your buckle look very similar to the ones on mine. The tab material appears to be made of brass and if you enlarge the attached photo, you can see thin lines along the outer edge similar to the lines you see on the edges of straps and leather belts?? it seems like the tab material was perhaps made of thin sheets of brass that were run through something that slit the sheets into thin ribbons that were then cut into segments and (at least on this piece) soldered as individual loops to the roundel similar to this... Ω then inserted through the buckle, and then "squashed" if you will.. to flatten the loops. I do not know if this was a documented period process or just a quick way to make these work .The claws do appear to be "Snipped off" and again ..I do not know if this was a legitimate period construction feature or expedient to speed up production, or just a repro characteristic??

Regards,Geoff

[Ben Evans]

Gents

Do you we not feel that the prongs have been replaced at some point? Not a fan of them to be honest