Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Silver Ring With Floral Design. |
It isn't unusual to find a old-looking silver ring on a treasure beach. One of the first things a detectorist will do is look for some marking on the shank. If there are no markings, that is taken as confirmation that the ring is very old, and if it was found on a shipwreck beach, the conclusion is that it came from a wreck. That might or might not be the case.
I've mentioned this many times before, but it has been said by one of the most experiences salvors that a silver ring has never been found on a 1715 Fleet wreck. A survey of Deagan's book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 - 1800, that thousands of finger rings were shipped to the American Spanish colonies, but I see no record of any described as silver. While no silver rings were specifically mentioned in the transport documents detailed by Deagan, numerous rings of glass, jet, and even wood are listed. While none are described as silver, there are a couple of categories that could possibly include silver, including one category described as anillos de alquimia (gilded) and another category described as sortijas luminada (shiny rings). It should be noted that the numbers of gilded rings is listed as 36. There were 144 shiny rings listed, which could include something other than metal rings.
In the archaeological record detailed by Deagan, the vast majority of rings from excavated sites are copper alloy. One of her illustrations shows a gilded copper alloy ring with a stone.
The gold rings she shows are all from the 1715 Plate Fleet. I don't find it surprising that less expensive rings, including perhaps many trade goods as well as products for the population were sent to the New World while the majority of gold items, being the result of ventures in the New World, would be found going back to Spain.
We know that silver rings have been found on Spanish colonial sites, even if they were not imported in great numbers and evidently were scarce to non-existent on the 1715 Fleet. Deagan shows on example of silver flaming heart ring from a Franciscan mission in North Florida.
The apparent lack of silver rings on the 1715 Fleet has puzzled me for some time. I have a theory that might explain it, but little evidence to back it up.
Despite what the archaeological record shows, a lot of old-looking silver rings are found on the shipwreck beaches. It can be difficult to say where they come from or why they are there. I have one theory about that, which I've expressed before, but little evidence to support it.
When trying to determine the date and source of a silver ring, we often look at the amount of corrosion as an indicator of age, but that is a very crude indicator. It doesn't take long for silver to corrode in salt water.
Then we look for identifying marks. No mark is taken as an indication that the ring is very old. That can be misleading. For one thing, corrosion can hide any marks that were there, and there are modern items that are not marked. As you'll find on YouTube, you can make a silver ring for yourself and won't necessarily bother to mark it. I've found several that appear to be modern silver rings in good shape that are not marked. Some appear to be made by an amateur hobbyist.
Rings marked sterling may not be as modern as you might think. I remember someone once telling me that electroplating was a recent invention so any item that is silver or gold plated must not be very old. That sounded reasonable to me at the time, but electroplating is not the only way that a layer of silver or gold can be layered over another less expensive metal. Gilding has been done for thousands of years. And electroplating is not all that new either. It was invented around 1800 or 1805, depending upon the source.
Here is another common belief that can lead you astray. You might believe that items marked sterling are not old. Of course it depends upon what you consider to be old, but here is what one source says, Sterling silver hallmark etching and engraving have been in use in England and France since the 14th century. (Source: British Sterling Silver Hallmarks - ArtiFact :: Encyclopedia of Everything Art, Antiques & Collectibles (gaukartifact.com))
Timothy McGuire's book, An Identification Guide to Recovered Colonial and Revolutionary War Artifacts (page 229), shows a variety of stamped pieces of trade silver. One is marked RC, STERLING and LONDON. The date given for that particular item is the late 1700s. Would you have thought an item marked sterling might be 18th century? (The RC stands for Robert Cruickshank.)
People also try to match designs. If they find a ring that has a design that looks like an old ring, they might conclude that their ring is old. The trouble is that some designs have been used continuously for hundreds if not thousands of years.
I've talked about Claddagh rings before. They have been found on Spanish treasure ships. One web site says they were invented in the 17th century. They are very available today.
There are many common patterns that have been used for hundreds of years. Floral patterns are very common in silver as well as gold.
Another Silver Floral Pattern Ring Cleaned Up.
You might be surprised to learn how easy it is to make your own floral ring. All you have to do is purchase a band, such as the one shown below, roll it and solder it. You can get both silver and gold strips bearing various patterns from the Rio Grande findings catalog. If you did that yourself, you might not bother to stamp it.
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| Source: riogrande.com. |
You might find it helpful to study jewelry working techniques.
Here are a couple patterns found on 1715 Fleet gold rings as shown in the Deagan book I referred to above.
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| Patterns on 1715 Fleet Gold Rings Shown in Deagan (2002). |
A floral design is something that I would usually not find very helpful in determining the age or source of a ring. They can be so similar and indistinguishable.
I need to quit there. Maybe I'll follow up with this some other time.
I don't have much of a conclusion today other than the difficulty of telling the age and source of a dug item such as a ring. Most of the things that we usually look at are not conclusive. Corrosion is a very crude and uncertain measure of age. Markings can be misleading. And design is often not a good indicator either. I didn't mention context, which can be some help.
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We are having some decent tides, but the surf is only about 2 - 3 feet.
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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net