Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Old Unmarked Silver Ring Found by Frank B. See story below. |
I just received these photos and following message from Frank B.
Hi again,
I enjoyed your article about silver rings and how difficult they are to date if there are no markings. A few years ago, I was detecting with my (now) wife at a Spanish-colonial site in Colombia. It's just a field now with a dilapidated stone church in the middle. A native American village was established there before the Spanish arrived in the area in the early 1600s. The Spanish constructed a church to convert the natives, and stuck around to mine the nearby copper mines. The village was moved to a better spot (better access to water) in the early 1880s and only farmed sporadically since then. We found lots of Spanish cobs, Spanish milled coins, and Nueva Granada (pre-Colombia) coins ranging from the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s at this spot. It seemed like it had never been detected before- was one of those rare opportunities you experience while metal detecting.
Anyway, attached are some photos of the silver ring. It's always intrigued me- I'm not sure if it's from the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, or even more modern, but I always thought it was neat looking.
Thanks for taking the time to keep up your blog!
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| Side View of Silver Ring Found by Frank B. |
Thanks for sharing Frank. That is the kind of experience that most detectorists dream about.
You do have the context of the find that suggests an early date.
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| Concrete Block on West Side of Indian River Lagoon. |
Notice the one big solid concrete block just above center of the above photo. That blbok is probably over a foot wide, and about three feet lonb and nine inches deep. It is heavy. The top one third or so of that block is sitting on another concrete block while the bottom two thirds or so is on sand. The block has been there in that position for over ten years and has not sunk at all. However the sand level on the block rises and falls, which I use as an indicator of sand movement at that spot. It serves as a good landmark. I am surprised that in the period of time it has been there, it has no sunk at all.
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Yesterday I mentioned that I did a little cleaning on some silver rings, but I did not mention what I used. I simply soaked the rings in white vinegar overnight. Some of the junk was removed from the surface, which is what I wanted, but if a ring or other item has stones, you should be cautious because the vinegar, being acidic, can have an effect on stones. In can even dislodge some stones. Sometimes on old rings, the corrosion can help hold stones in place, and they can become loose when the vinegar does its work. Therefore, be extra careful that you do not damage stones or lose them if they come out during cleaning.
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Various materials were used for jewelry and finger rings centuries ago. Records show that many glass finger rings and other glass jewelry items such as beads and bracelets. Also common were wood and jet. While the many items made of those materials are recorded in Deagan's book on Spanish Colonial artifacts, you don't hear about those things being found on the Treasure Coast, especially some of the materials that would deteriorate in a saltwater environment. I don't remember hearing of a glass ring or bracelet being found on the 1715 Fleet, and certainly not by detectorists. Not only would it probably be broken, but a glass piece might easily not be thought to be anything very old, and so go unrecognized.
I once found a gold bead on a Treasure Coast beach, and even after I detected it, it took a long time to find it. I through the sand on my coil, moved it around and could hear it when it was moved, but still had a hard time seeing it. The sand was the yellow shell sand and the small gold bead wasn't easy to see even when I was looking right at it. If the bead was glass or jet or some material other than metal, I might never have found it.
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Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net