Horseshoe buckle brooch

Buckle brooch in the form of a horseshoe. " During the Crusades of the 12th century, horseshoes were accepted in lieu of money to pay taxes. The cache provided shoes for mounts ridden during these holy wars. Around this time, horseshoes also became synonymous with good fortune. On festive occasions a "lucky" silver shoe was lightly hammered onto a horse's hoof just before a parade, and the retriever won a prize. To ward off bad luck, shoes were often kept as talismans for fending off the devil, whose cloven hoof was injured by a wayward nail delivered by a chaste farrier."