🥇 BANNER 19th century gold

McCDig

Silver Member
Jan 31, 2015
3,753
9,039
Baltimore, Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Here we are at the beginning of 2017, starting from scratch, nothing in the till. So how did the first hunt of the new year turn out?

As amazing and unpredictable as the finds of 2016!

First coin of the year was an 1893 V-nickel, very toasty but still readable. Next coin was silver, at least 35%, in the form of a 1943 P War nickel. After that came two wheats, a 1950 followed by a 1909. These first four targets were dug in an area of high EMI, so I had the sensitivity down to 70, still plenty of depth to get the V and the 1909. There was also a child's junk ring in the hole with the V-nickel and bears the raised letters "HONGKONG" inside.

I moved away from the EMI region and raised the sensitivity back up to 92 and dug a few square nails and then got another signal with a VDI over 90. Down about 6 to 7 inches I swiped away enough soil to reveal a golden edge. Got out the cell phone and recorded the extraction of an 1800s gold ring; it tests positive for at least 14K. The engraved onyx appears to have the bearers initials in reverse order as if the ring could also have been used as a stamp with ink.

Easy to have firsts on the first hunt of the year. Here in Baltimore it was cold and rainy, so I lasted three hours and then headed to the truck to get dry and check out that ring. BTW, this is the same park I hunted all of December.

Thx for checking out the pix!
Finds_02Jan2017.jpg

Here's link to video of ring find
 

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Upvote 101
Thx Sleepy for your post! I plan to have a gemologist look at the ring, someone who also works with estate jewelry, to get a better idea of what I've got.
 

Thanks Professor! I never thought of myself as a gold finder. For those out there using the Fisher F75 LE, settings were sensitivity 92, disc 11, 3H tones, and jewelry (JE) mode. Ground was moist; we've had a good bit of rain over the past month.
 

This is incredible! I'm a jewelry enthusiast, so I'm guessing you have a Victorian (1870s - 1880s) Bloodstone signet ring. I'm guessing that it's going to be 15 karat if it didn't test 18K, ! With it's age, and it's lack of wear (being in the ground actually kept the gold patterns from being worn away over the past century and a half), you have quite a keeper!

https://www.rubylane.com/item/648247-799/18K-Gold-Bloodstone-Signet-Ring
https://www.rubylane.com/item/64824...Beautiful-15K-Gold-Bloodstone-Intaglio-Signet

What an amazing thing to recover from the dirt! WOW Wow WOW. Bet that got your heart going!
 

VERY nice ornate victorian era SEAL RING. Deffinately a BLOODSTONE. super cool design. Heres mine from a few years back. Tested 18k.
EXCELLENT find!seal ring.jpgseal ring2.jpgwax seal.jpg
 

WOW. That is a killer find. It really looks nice, and it is personalized.

I sincerely hope that you are able to trace the owner down, that would make it all the better.

Congrats on an exceptional find.
 

What a beautiful gold ring! Congratulations!!!
 

Stunning! Just awesome!

Congratulations!
 

Dang. Those are some spectacular finds. Great hunt!

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

The ONLY thing that troubles me about the ring is the high VID numbers. You said over 90? I know absolutely nothing about the Fisher F75 but I do know other machines and I have never seen gold ring up that high.

As for a middle ground between 14 and 18K, sure is. I have found two rings marked 16K. One last year.



I think the ring is absolutely beautiful and it sure looks like a high carat gold. Are you sure there was nothing else in the hole? My 10.00 eagle rang up as a zinc penny on my White's Spectrum. My underwater machines do not have VID numbers but have a mid tone for gold and a high tone for silver.

Congrats on probably a fine piece of history.
 

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Stacey, thank you for the links to period pieces. Interestingly, mine has no apparent maker's mark.

This is my fourth precious metal ring since October. This one is the best of the four and was particularly exciting because it's getting harder to pull something good from this particular spot. makes me wonder what else is still there.
 

Thx ScubaDetector! I will say that there are deep iron square nails that litter this site. Most high tones you hear are from these and the VDI can range 75 to 95. I am using the NEL Tornado coil. The 14K diamond engagement ring I dug back in October was a high tone. I'll look at the video I shot of that dig to see if I mentioned the VDI. Even the old gold signet rings I dug from Patterson Park in 2015 and early 2016 rang up high. This is counter-intuitive because when I air-test my gold ring it does not give a solid high tone or a high VDI. Certainly there may be some upscaling but I don't have an explanation beyond my first-hand experience to explain why my detector is responding like this. One thing that has happened consistently with silver rings is that I think I have a quarter with the 83 VDI and it turns out to be sterling.
 

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Hi Art! Thanks for your post. Banner or no, I'm thankful to have found this ring to share with my fellow Treasurenetters.
 

Thx olas13! Congrats on your find, too! It's a close cousin of the one I dug yesterday and obviously well-designed for those who used sealing wax.
 

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