meaning of "sterling shank" stamped ring?

It means the band is sterling silver. Say an artisan or hobbyist might make rings that have a band or shank they purchased somewhere and attached their own stone or whatever into it. If you search a bit you'll find many online stores that sell these.

Voriax

I found a ring over the summer that sounds like it has the same mark. It also said Sterling Shank, and it had the >M-H< on it. If you look at the website I list below, you'll see an example of that mark, and it will tell you the maker. The mark in my case is actually two arrows pointing toward the M and the H, so it more resembles this: ->M-H<- but it is a very small mark. It may or may not be exactly the same as yours. The example the website cites is from 1951, and they say the original owner was "McGrath-Hamin", last known owner "Vargas", which is why this is found under the "V" section of this website. I suppose the idea is that one maker has a line of jewelry or a style or something, and it gets purchased by another over the course of time. I dunno.

Just to add on to FjLee's comments, I would understand also that means the shank is sterling, but in teh case of my ring as an example, the metal used to mount the stone/glass/plastic/whatever it is, could be anything.


http://www.illusionjewels.com/costumejewelrymarksv.html

Sterling silver ring with →M-H←

I inherited this ring from my mother. It is sterling silver (stamped) with a marquise garnet. The setting is like filigree. Great to have a bit of knowledge of this ring. I would attach a picture but the website does not want to attach my picture.