My Find of the Year: Gold Civil War Ring (Updated 2 new pictures)

[jtomlinson]

That is awesome

 

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[torreya]

I see the face too

 

[Colonial_New_England]

Absolutely PHENOMENAL find.

 

[Joseph Gilbert]

Got lucky while hunting last week and dug this ring in a Louisiana camp. 3 Louisiana cuff buttons were found within 10 foot of the ring. Right now I am still trying to research what boat is on the front of the ring as it might hold the key to which soldier was wearing it. I am guessing since it is made of solid gold with Silver inlay on the sides and was hand engraved on the front that no normal soldier had it on. Most of them were too worried about shoes, clothes and food to be wearing something that nice. Some people refer to the ring as a locket ring or a poison ring. Taking it to a jewler next week to have the latch fixed and the crud cleaned off but am not having it polished as I just want to get the crud off so it will display better. If anyone has any clues to what boat is on the front it would be a big help. We do know that it is a sidewheel paddleboat. Probably used around Louisiana and before the war which would date it to before 1861.. UPDATE: A person that specializes in Steamboats at a University told me to try to ID the 4 marks on the Paddle as that is where the name would be. I have done the best I could with my camera and still cant make anything out. See if any of you have eagle eyes as I think mine are shot. The ring goes to be fixed on Monday and the Jewler has a 18 power Magnifying glass so if we cant maybe he can..Again, thanks for the nice comments and the for looking.. Thanks for looking Rusty Mills East Tennessee

the boat on the ring looks to me like the infamous Sultania that went down with 1700 prisoners of war in 1865

 

[birdman]

An absolute museum piece, the craftsmanship is exquisite.

 

[diggerdog1]

Going to Roswell ga. To visit my daughter.
Taking my garret , any suggestions as
To where to hunt. I know battlefields are
Off limits, do I knock on doors hoping
I don't get shot as one of them damn
Yankees?

 

[elbosque]

Fantastic find! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Danny Twork]

Rings like this were common. The covers would be engraved or etched like yours. Hollywood named them poison rings when in fact they were made to hold a lock of hair of a loved one. They we're worn by both men and women. Many of these were traded for new shoes or a better weapon.

 

[Dnicee]

Wow, that is really awesome! Congrats mate! How I wish I could take part of Americas great history, but atm I'm stuck in sweden haha... guess I will need all the luck I can get to compete with your find!

 

[Justice70]

Just read the entire thread and am disappointed that no updates have been added. Did it ever make it into W&E? Was Rusty just not able to find out any more info, Did the jeweler get robbed? Did Rusty Die? A great story but unfinished.

 

[Lifes A Garden...Dig IT]

This would be a find of a lifetime for me. Not only did you find jewelry, you found gold , you found what appears to be a civil war era relic, you found a one of a kind ring. In my opinion this image on the ring looks to be a blockade runner for the CSA that probably patrolled the mighty Mississip or the Gulf against the US Naval fleets. There are so many stories that could be behind this ring or the significance of it. Gives me goosebumps. Holy Crap. Love it. Wow!!!

 

[Lifes A Garden...Dig IT]

Could the picture on the ring be a picture of a "blockade runner"? I saw something a while back that showed a blockade runner and it looked sorta like the picture on the ring....d2

Thank you d2, as that same thought has been driving me crazy. I agree and posted a very similar comment. As I was reading everyone's comments, I was suprised that no one else had mentioned this.

 

[Lifes A Garden...Dig IT]

Gee, I gotta tell ya, if I EVER found anything that nice and that valuable, I would probably hang my detector on the wall and quit detecting altogether....at least after I changed my drawers. Crap, that's an incredible find. WOW... It would be great to know how it came to be lost...was it buried on the finger of the dead man who had owned it? Or, since you found the buttons too, maybe he wasn't buried, maybe he was shot and killed on the spot. Gee, there's no telling what the story is behind it. Congratulations on it guy...that's a heck of a find.

Quite the the contrary, a find like this would give me fuel to want to continue hunting for decades to come. A simply amazing find!!!

 

[A2coins]

amazing really cool for a display case

 

[gemee]

What ever happened with this story? It's been like two years and this Rusty guy never came back Did the jeweler he took the ring to kill him and make off with the loot? lol

I wonder as well. Did Rusty die,..and the jeweler still has the ring? The BIGGER mystery is WHAT HAPPENED to Rusty Mills?

 

[gemee]

Would Whitesburg Tenn. be considered East Tenn? I found one Rusty Mills in Zabasearch, living in Whitesburg. Wish someone would contact him and get him back here.

 

[OreElse]

Now that's an amazing find! Great work!

 

[Red James Cash]

Its a locket,my sister use to collect poison rings.The compartment in yours is too big.

 

[Huzzah!]

Coolest thing I've seen in a while on Tnet. that is awesome.

 

[WALOTTO]

What a lovely masterpiece! I would get it reestablished and resized for you to wear.