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Gold ring?

TommyJay

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Joined
Jun 17, 2013
Messages
2,225
Location
WY
Theres a lot in the oldest section in town (pre 1900), that had an old mechanics garage on it. Someone had purchased it in the spring, tore down the garage part, and started to renovate the lot. We have been trying to catch the owner to see if we could detect the lot all summer, but to no avail. Today I drove by it on my way to another permission, and saw a guy parked in front reading a plat diagram. I spun around, and asked him if he was the owner. He said yes. I then asked permission for my buddy and I to hunt it, and he said sure! I wanted to check the other permission I was headed to first, and said that I would be back later. The contractor had scraped about a foot and a half of the top soil off, and moved it to the center of the lot. I started hunting around the level scraped out area on one side, and got a near solid 15 hit on the NOX that was just under the surface. I popped it out to see this ring:

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At first I thought it was costume type jewelry with gold plate on it, but as I cleaned it more I noticed there wasnt the typical wear that would expose the base material underneath the plate. There are no purity or makers marks on it, but the crown area looks odd. It almost looks like epoxy was used as the base, and the jeweler placed a ring of small stones near the edge, then small chunks of gold between them and the stone at the center.

20211016_164101 (2).jpg

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My buddy says the ring design near the crown looks old, and Ive been trying to find out when purity marks became the standard. Ill take it to a jeweler next week to see what they think, and see if they can clean it better.

Thanks for looking, and HH!
 
The second two pictures look like gold to me. How’s it feel when you toss it up from your palm when it lands? Does it have that heft of gold feel? Should feel heavy for its size when handled. If the stones are glued in not a good sign tho. I think those small chunks of gold between the stones may be prongs? I think it’s the real deal. Hope so. Nice dig!
 
The second two pictures look like gold to me. How’s it feel when you toss it up from your palm when it lands? Does it have that heft of gold feel? Should feel heavy for its size when handled. If the stones are glued in not a good sign tho. I think those small chunks of gold between the stones may be prongs? I think it’s the real deal. Hope so. Nice dig!

Thanks GS. Yea its got the heft, and upon further review, those do appear to be the prongs holding in the main stone. Not sure what the dark matter is surrounding it. Did someone try and add the outer stones using some type of adhesive? Or if its as old as the town is, it might have been in the ground for 138 years collecting who knows what around the crown. If its home made, it might have been made by a jeweler who did nice work on the ring part....but gluing on other stones would be a mistake by them. Ill take it to a jeweler and see what they say. Maybe they can clean it up too.
 
Took the ring to a jeweler, and found it to be 14K, but she said that she couldnt positively ID the stone and suggested it could be amethyst. Went across to the coin store, and he tested the stone to be high probable topaz with chipped diamonds around the main stone. As far as the age, no one could tell. Is it scrap or antique? Might have to look up an antique dealer.
 
Congrats on the gold ring - that's a great find!

I would have guessed gold simply based on how pristine the metal is - few base metals hold up that nicely in the ground.
 
OMG do not scrap that ring! There must be someone that would love to have it. Old ..antique..vintage jewelry is just so hard to come by...
 
Congrats on the gold ring - that's a great find!

I would have guessed gold simply based on how pristine the metal is - few base metals hold up that nicely in the ground.

Thank you!

OMG do not scrap that ring! There must be someone that would love to have it. Old ..antique..vintage jewelry is just so hard to come by...

Heck no, Gale! Thats what the coin guy mildly suggested. Im thinking he wanted me to sell it to him, but no dice. My dealings, or should I say discussions with these folks in the past leads me to be wary around them. They prey on people that need $$$. Im hoping to find an antique jewelry pro that could tell me learn more about it, unfortunately in small town WY thats hard to come buy. If you have any suggestions of some folks that could help me identify it better, please PM me so I can send them a picture. Thank you.
 
Will do. I can tell you the center, at least, is old mine cut. You mentioned something about some "grey" stuff. That could be a "repair" by a jeweler or someone at home. I had a necklace with the gunk on it and my jeweler told me that it was a repair, most likely lead. My guess, not a professional by any means, would be around 1900-1920. Just do a little research, take a real sharp picture and do a Google image search. You may come up with some pretty close matches. Good luck and let me know if you find anything about it.
 
Will do. I can tell you the center, at least, is old mine cut. You mentioned something about some "grey" stuff. That could be a "repair" by a jeweler or someone at home. I had a necklace with the gunk on it and my jeweler told me that it was a repair, most likely lead. My guess, not a professional by any means, would be around 1900-1920. Just do a little research, take a real sharp picture and do a Google image search. You may come up with some pretty close matches. Good luck and let me know if you find anything about it.

Thank you Gale!
 
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