10/13/22 Report - Unmarked Old Silver Rings of Indeterminant Age. Finger Rings in the Spanish Colonial Archaeological Record.

 

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Unmarked Silver Ring With Pink Stone.

I've been going back and looking at Treasure Coast ring finds, particularly silver rings which, as far as I can tell, could be either modern or older.  They are mostly silver rings without any silver marking or hallmark or anything to provide a clue about their age.  

Finger rings have not changed much over the centuries.  Some modern rings are indistinguishable from much older rings.  

One of the most experienced and top treasure salvagers has stated that a silver ring has never been found on a 1715 wreck.  I've discussed that before.  But there are many silver rings found on the Treasure Coast beaches, most of which are more modern, yet a few have been certified as being from a 1715 wreck.  There is no particular shortage of silver rings found on Spanish colonial land archaeological sites though.  There is therefore no doubt that a silver ring found on a Treasure Coast beach could possibly be associated with a 1715 wreck, perhaps carried by a passenger.  Records show that many silver finger rings and finger rings made of other materials wee imported to the New World as early as the 16th century.  I've recently showed some of those presented in Kathleen Deagens book.  Here are some of those again.

You will notice how similar these rings are to more modern rings.  Those shown above are mostly copper alloy, although there are photos in the book of silver rings, though they are fewer.  Silver rings in the Spanish Colonial archaeological record are scarce, but there are a few.

The silver ring with pink stone shown at the top of this post has no silver markings or hallmarks.  There is nothing I see that provides any good clue to the age of the ring.  It is a simple silver band with a setting that, as far as I can tell, could either be old or modern.  It looks very similar to rings found at Spanish Colonial sites, but could possibly be modern too.  I don't know.

Last night I cleaned it just a little more to remove the surface junk so I could see for sure if there were any markings or not, and there were not.  I do not know what the pink stone is.  Maybe it is shell or coral. I learned nothing new from the additional cleaning.  

Below is another small ring with what appears to be a turquoise setting.  It does not have any markings either.  I would guess this one is modern, but would expect it to be marked.  I found no marks even after additional cleaning.  The ring is worn or corroded thin, though, so it is possible that a mark could be worn off.

Unmarked Silver and Turquoise Ring Find.

Below are two more unmarked rings that I am very curious about.  They are silver with some small amount of gold.  Silver and turquoise was popular in the 1970s, and I'd guess that is what this one is.  I'd expect those to be marked though, and it isn't.  

Here is the first of those.   I cleaned it beyond what is shown in the photo and found no markings.

Silver and Gold Ring Find.

And the second is the following, with a floral design.  Also no markings found after additional cleaning.

Silver and Gold Floral Ring With Small Stones.

This is a nice delicate ring and had the same dark black patina as the ring just above it.  A few of the little stones were missing.  I've always wondered about these two rings, and am still wondering about them.

Older silver rings are common, but most are marked, which helps a lot.  These four are not marked.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Karl is not coming our way.  There is one little system over by Africa, but nothing significant right now.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

No big surf coming soon, though the tides remain high.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net