10/23/26 Report - Valuable 1715 Fleet Gold Escudos and Finger Bar. How to Date an Engagment Ring. Even Higher Surf Coming.

 

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

See Treasure, World Coin & Paper Money Auction 40 : Session 1: Gold Cobs, Shipwreck Coins & Ingots - iCollector.com Online Auctions

I just did a quick browse of some of the Sedwick Auction #40 listings.  Above is the coin with the highest bid that I saw.  It is 1715 Fleet 4-escudo.  The second highest bid I saw for a coin was a very nice roundish 1715 Fleet Mexico 8-escudo.

The highest bid I saw was $55,000 for a 546-gram 18K gold finger bar from the Santa Margarita.

There may have been higher bids somewhere in the auction.  I didn't look at all the lots.

I'd guess that only about a third to a half of the lots had bids at this point, but that is a rough estimate.  I didn't really count them.

I'd say at least half of the lots had no bid yet, but there is plenty of time left before the auction goes live, so I'd expect much higher bids and very few lots, if any, not receiving bids.

Among the silver cobs, it appeared that the  Mexico 8-reales were doing very well along with some of the Peru cobs.

One Jupiter wreck coin that was PCGS-certified had an especially good high bid.

 

There are still many lots without bids.  Give it a look.  

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You can pretty well determine the age or period of an engagement ring from stylistic features.  I'll give you some of the main trends for the different age periods.

From 1900 - 1915, rings were made in the Edwardian or Belle Epoque style. Platinum became commonly used. 

Until the early twentieth century, gold and silver was the choice for fine jewelry. Silver was used for diamond settings.

The garland style with lacework, filigree, millegrain edges, and settings so fine the metal nearly disappeared. Bows, ribbons, laurel wreaths were common.

Stones of this period were old mine and old European cut. They are chunkier, with small tables, high crowns and large open culets. 

The next period was the Art Deco period, which was roughly1920 to 1935. In contrast to Edwardian jewellery , which would be curled, would be characterized by step cuts, emerald and Asscher with broad flat facets, baguettes, calibre-cut coloured stones, sapphire, onyx and ruby shape set inm channel.

1930 to 1950 was the Retro period. Platinum was no longer used since during the war it was needed for the war. Yellow and rose gold was common with bolder, heavier, more sculptural, with large curves and less fine detail.

Stones were smaller, so there was more metal. Rose gold was very common.

1947 to 1950 was the deBeers period. Rings were characterized by a single round stone raised on claws.

The 1960s and 70s feature yellow gold again with rougher textures and colored stones. Asymmetry, hammered finishes, organic forms, cluster settings, and several stones arranged as a flower or a spray, were most common.

In 1981 Lady Diana Spencer set the trend with her large oval blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. Sapphire engagement rings became popular. Catherine Middleton later reenergized the trend.

1990s rings were sharper, cleaner, more angular with a princess cut and a square modified brilliant. Tension settings were used with the stone appearing to ber suspended between two ends of a band. Channel-set shoulders were very common.

In 2000 the halo returned dominated. A center stone surrounded by small appeared larger. Economy was featured.

White gold rather than platinum became the default. With rhodium plating it looked similar.
The 2010s rose gold with elongated shapes became fashionable. Ovals, pears and elongated cushions look larger.

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The 2020s is characterized by individuality over trend. People want something nobody else has. Rings are often custom made. Some common trends include two-stone designs, bezels, lower profiles, colored center stones.  To make things difficult, vintage and antique becamme popular.

And in the past couple of years lab-grown diamonds became popular for economy sake. A lab-grown diamond can cost 5 to 10 percent of what a similar natural diamond can cost, and it looks very similar.

With large center stones being so inexpensive settings have become more elaborate, more architectural. More of a ring's cost is in the workmanship rather than the stone.

Another common trend is having an ancestor's stone reset in a contemporary setting.

Trends come and go.  Nobody wants their parent's style. which is what they grew up.  It takes a while for a style to fade from memory before it is brought back again.

Here is an excellent link for more on that topic.

A century of engagement ring design - Our Culture

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Wabasso Beach Cam Friday Morning.

Fort Pierce Jetty Areas Surf Chart from Surfguru.com.

Take a look at that. It looks like Sunday the surf will be up again. 8 - 12 ft. That will continue on into the week too. Combined with this weeks effects, that has a good chance of opening up some good opportunties.

Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net