Gold ring - help needed to identify markings

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Hi Everyone,

This is my first post. I'm a newcomer to detecting am most interested in the history behind objects.

It was only my fourth time out yesterday and I made a stonking find, a gold ring. It looks like a male wedding ring to me.

The markings are as follows:
  • Makers mark possibly - looks like the letters A L[/*]
  • Assay mark maybe - looks like a crown[/*]
  • Gold mark which is C18 - this is peculiar as gold is normally marked with a number like 750 for 18 carat gold[/*]
  • A capital F which would refer to the date[/*]

I'd love to know where the ring is from. I don't think it is from Australia, the UK or the US, as the 'C18' mark does not follow their conventions for gold marks.

Any ideas?

P.S. - this is a great site and I'm in awe and some of the brilliant finds.

1568589471_20190915_gold_ring_2.jpg
 
Hi Clodmaster and welcome to PA.

That's an interesting ring, and nice find!

It's a pity the first two letters are unclear, because there are many sponsor's marks from which to choose, and it's hard to know which one it is. I'm not convinced that's an L - possibly a W.

The other symbols are:

The crown was a general symbol for 'gold'.
The C18 (I assume) is 18 carat.
And I believe that particular F is 1873.

But I have to wonder about all the "stain" marks on the gold. Does it polish up to shiny gold? Because gold doesn't usually stain, which makes me wonder about this ring's purity, and the possibility that it's not as "genuine" as those hallmarks are trying to suggest otherwise. They are "odd", compared to others, I believe. It might have been made by a "backyard" goldsmith in Australia back in 1873, and he just used those marks for his work, and it didn't actually go through an assayers office, which would explain the lack of an assayer's mark and country of origin.

Cheers,
Megsy
 
Got to be happy with that one. Off to a good start. If you don't have access to any resources, take it to your local pawn shop and tell them that you would like a price to sell it. They will test it for it's carat value and weigh it for you. Then thank them and say you will think about it. Don't be surprised how little they offer you, it's worth more as a find and the good feeling "I found that"!!
 
Thanks Megsy and Blocker.

I think I'll take the ring to a local jeweller to see what they think.
Megsy - the stain marks in the photo are hard to see with the naked eye, as are the small pock marks. It's just with the photo being high res that all this extra detail comes out. I agree about finding out whether it is really 18 carat gold though.

I'll let you know how I go!

Cheers
Clodmaster
 
Well done... Any ring with those sort of hall markings would undoubtedly be Gold Markings... Nice find and sg test would sort it out :Y:
 
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