Help with gold ring hallmarks

Murray8144

Murray8144

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Aug 20, 2015
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Essex County, NJ
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I dug this gold ring today at an old homesite. There's three hallmarks on the inside...an anchor (think that means it was made in Birmingham U.K.), a bust (I think it's a duty mark), and "MP" (no idea). Can anyone lend some expertise on these marks?

IMG_6947.PNGIMG_6944.JPGIMG_6937.JPGIMG_6936.JPG
 

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nice find
 

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Everything I'm researching says there's supposed to be numbers indicating purity. But the anchor is for Birmingham.
 

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If you look up European gold marks online you'll find so many verities and I don't even know if it's even European?. Sometime I've had to go to the library and get out the book references. It kind of look French, but I wouldn't bet on it. I will say it certainly looks like solid gold and you could head to the pawn shop and say whats this worth? They'll tell you it's either this or that grade in gold and weighs this much and offer a price. You say thanks, but no thanks and start looking at gold marks for that particular grade and maybe you'll narrow it down? To me the key stamp is the little profile head and that may be a mark of a gold grade for the country it's from I'm thinking, but still could be a duty mark. Hallmark books are pretty thick as there are so many different kinds worldwide on precious metals. It could even be American made as the jeweler tried to make it appear as a European piece? Nice Find:thumbsup:
 

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I don't think that anchor is Birmingham.They use dies to stamp things and the anker on the ring is cast all at once.
 

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the anchor mark indicates manufacture in the city or Birmingham. The 'MP' or whatever is obviously the maker's mark and I can't find it anywhere so we'll just call it undetermined. The mark of the bust facing right is a duty mark. I can't tell which king it is supposed to represent, but it should date it to between 1786 and 1833. The duty mark was added to show proof of taxes paid, with the tax money supposed to help repay the cost of the war with America during the Revolution.
 

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That ring looks very old, I really like it. Definitely looks like gold (not plated) with the wear and no sub metal showing through. Are there any other very worn marks inside or outside the band?
 

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Nice I just found a gold ring about the size I had a pretty good idea of what it would weigh get that baby tested it could very well be 18k and congrats on very nice old chunky ring
Murray8144 said:
thanks for the replies all!



good guess on the weight - 7.2g



i don't see any more no
Click to expand...
 

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awesome find!!

this looks like 18K or 22K and of the late Georgian period (late 1700-early 1800s). it is quite worn--the shield shape on top would have once had an engraved monogram probably.

the marks sort of look like birmingham but they seem a bit off (not necessarily a bad thing...). the duty mark doesn't quite match any of the ones i'm looking at in the book (could be a variation). also it's odd that a date letter is not present--this certainly would have been included if the maker went through the trouble of putting a maker's mark, city mark, and duty mark... this could be because of laxer marking standards or because the ring was sized or repaired at some point, thereby obscuring or removing marks (can you detect any seams from a repair or sizing job?)

also the typography of the "MP" is a bit weird for english hallmarks.

anyway, sometimes when you see pieces of this period with english-looking hallmarks that seem a bit "off" it is actually chinese export. they used "pseudo-hallmarks" in imitation of english hallmarks. the typography of the "MP" is similar in style to marks on some chinese export wares i have seen--the lettering is more stick-like and without serifs (like the characters in their native language). i know this from my somewhat limited experience with chinese export silver.

sorry to disagree with rodgerdodger but it is definitely not mexican or electroplated. it is solid gold and almost certainly late 18th/early 19th century.

at the very least, a handsome English Georgian signet ring, but if it is chinese export it could potentially be worth more.

don't scrap it! it merits more research.

congratulations!
 

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Wow that's pretty cool info. I'll look with the loupe for a sizing seam but I looked over the ring for anything that seemed anything other than just scratches and didn't see anything. If it is late 1700s/early 1800s it would match other finds at the site. I'm thrilled with it regardless but if it has that kind of age is be over the friggin moon.

Thanks for the replies all!
 

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Holy smokes. That's incredible. thanks so much for the effort you put into the research all!
 

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Just tidying up some blasts from the past (including some very ancient ones), largely for the benefit of anyone searching the site for information.

Sorry, but those are most certainly not English hallmarks and just because there’s an anchor doesn’t mean it has anything to do with Birmingham. It was a commonly used symbol in pseudo-hallmark sets, principally by American and other foreign makers. The pseudo-Georgian duty mark bears no more than a passing resemblance to the real thing and there’s no city mark or fineness mark.

I don’t know who used the conjoined MP maker mark or where it comes from and only proper testing would establish whether the ring is in fact gold and, if so, what purity.
 

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