(**Video**) BIG Gold! My Hands are Still Shaking!

[KYshooter]

Would you believe a half-inch wedding band from the late 1800's?!!

Let's just start with the video ...
[youtube=425,350]RO0OVLllgCM[/youtube]
[size=10pt][size=10pt][size=13pt][size=10pt]
**Size Update - Ring weighed in at 14.1 grams, or 10.575 grams of pure gold ... .339994441295 Troy Ounces (just over 1/3 ounce).
**Melt value is $458.51 at the current spot price![/size][/size][/size][/size]

So, as usual, I made my way back to my old mineral springs hotel site yesterday afternoon. I only had three hours to hunt, but I wanted to get some dirtfishing time in because bad weather is moving in tonight.

I decided to hunt near the top of the hill where the building sat. I actually focused on an area slightly behind where the "later" part (built in 1885) stood. I worked near a small cluster of trees.

I had only been at it for about fifteen minutes when I got a solid, repeating VDI of 74 on my MXT. Looked like a solid penny, so I dug, expecting an old wheatie. I cut a nice, big plug ... and my head almost exploded when I saw this staring at me out of the bottom of the plug ...


Holy Shamoley! That's gold! And not just any gold. It's BIG Gold. Here's a shot fresh out of the dirt that I captured from the video.


It is so HEAVY! I mean, it's the biggest gold ring that I have ever, personally, seen. Just a little under a full half-inch in width ...


Here it is in my lovely wife's hand ...


It is 18k, and bears the mark of, "Mermod & Jaccard Jewelry Co."


I did some research on the mark, and found this information on a site describing some art deco silver pieces made by this company:

The "Mermod, Jaccard" mark is that of a company that was founded in St. Louis in 1829 by Louis Jacquard. He was joined by A.S. Mermod in 1845 and Goodman King in 1865, and the company became Mermod, Jaccard & King Jewelry Co.
So ... the company existed under the names of "Mermod & Jaccard" only between the years 1845 and 1865. That means this ring was manufactured just before or during the Civil War!!

The ring has a fancy script-inscribed name inside, but I cannot make it out due to what appears to be heat damage. Indeed, even if the ring were an inch or two deep in the ground when the building burned, it was close enough to incur some damage from the intense heat.

Needless to say, I am seriously stoked about this find. I hope to be able to find someone nearby with a scale tomorrow so I can get an accurate weight and calculate the exact gold content. I weighed it on a small scale at the hospital where I work a part-time job, and it totaled it at exactly 0.5 ounce, but I don't trust that measurement ... seems a wee bit hefty (but close!).

Honestly, I'm not sure if this ring will have more value in its gold, or in the fact that it is a 160 year-old antique. From that perspective, I'm not even sure how to get it checked out.

I also found some other whatzits and a 23mm flat button that had me thinking "half cent" for a while ... but only left me broken-hearted.


Thanks for looking, and enjoy the video. And give some thought to hitting up my Youtube channel and subscribing.

Blessings,

Geoff

 

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[zaxfire69]

I can tell you this. I have a 1922 Gold class ring made by the same company. So it is an old ring for sure. I think your ring is awesome. It will clean up nicely. Very beautiful. Congrats on your find. Enjoyed your video.

 

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[NGE]

Beautiful BLING! I am subscribing also. If ya like music, local talent type, check out my youtube channel..type Newburgh Jammers in search bar.........NGE screen name there is aliasfred

 

[Mach1Pilot]

What a great find!

But I'm wondering if you need to show less of the field before someone figures out where you have been hunting..... nonetheless I look forward to more posts of your finds from that site!

 

[spitfire55]

 

[KYshooter]

What a great find!

But I'm wondering if you need to show less of the field before someone figures out where you have been hunting..... nonetheless I look forward to more posts of your finds from that site!

Not that worried about it. Not a lot of detectors around here. Plus ... I have exclusive detecting permission ... and we have lots of guns down here.

 

[NGE]

OMG! Did he just mention GUNS? Run, hide, gather up yer babies, plug their ears. What's this world coming to, when forbidden words are spoken here Me and lead don't mix, your secret place is safe with me.....Now where did he say he was detector huntin'? ........NGE

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Nice hunk of yellow!!! Congrats!

 

[The Seeker]

That is one nice find .....but i don't think back in the 1850s they stamped rings with 18K....could be wrong! I would look into it............Great ring anyway....

 

[KYshooter]

That is one nice find .....but i don't think back in the 1850s they stamped rings with 18K....could be wrong! I would look into it............Great ring anyway....

Seeker, you're probably right. When I first put up the post, I was operating off of a timeline given on a single web site.

But my TreasureNet buddy Don in SJ has done some research into the company and the mark. This is part of what he sent me ...

What piqued my interest was the fact it had the Karat rating a makers mark and the Jewelers name. I I know none of that was required in the early mid 1800s, the Law requiring such markings I believe did not occur until 1906/ So it is possible the ring is 20th century, but I am certain it is not prior to 1883, since it seems the usage of the word Jewelry was not used in the earlier years, just Mermod & Jaccard Company.Looks like the store burned in the 20th century, but I could not read the article, but they were in business till 1905, so perhaps that is the year the store burned (NY Times) It also says Mermod & Jaccard Jewelry Company made the medals for the 1904 Olympics.....

Here is one timeline on the company I did find, but wow, this slow computer today made for miserable research..

1829-Louis Jaccard opens store in St. Louis
1837-Eugene Jaccard arrives from Switzerland to join the company
1845-A. S. Mermod, cousin of Eugene, added to firm.
1847-D. C. Jaccard comes from Switzerland and joins firm
1864-with Goodman King, Mermod and Jaccard form D. C. Jaccard & Co.
1883-incorporated as Mermod and Jaccard Jewelry Co. A few years later they buy out E. Jaccard Jewelry Co.
1888-Eugene G. E. and Walter M Jaccard, sons of D. C., open store in KC
after 1895-Ernest A. Jaccard, another son of D. C., leaves St. Louis and joins brother Walter in Jaccard Jly. Co.

Bottom line: a great big ring with a most likely later era than previously thought, believe me it is confusing researching that company, see that there were similar names in use at the time, but the key word Jewelry sealed the deal for me for it being no earlier than 1883...

So, that does seem to indicate a bit later date ... probably around the turn of the century, which would have been about the "heyday" of the place.

Not quite as old as I first thought ... but it's still just as heavy. Amen??

Geoff

 

[KYshooter]

OMG! Did he just mention GUNS? Run, hide, gather up yer babies, plug their ears. What's this world coming to, when forbidden words are spoken here Me and lead don't mix, your secret place is safe with me.....Now where did he say he was detector huntin'? ........NGE

Yep ... and I had a guy who watched my video asked me why I was wearing a sidearm! I'm assuming that he was confusing my ProPointer with a pistol.

 

[KYshooter]

I was doing some research because of the high VDI ... 74.

I discovered in Robert C. Brockett's, Taking a Closer Look at Metal Detector Discrimination, (White's Electronics Publication) that this ring fell right into the expected range. 18 kt heavy gold rings should show up in the 70 to 80 range.

Cool ... Makes sense to me now.

 

[ivan salis]

post office should have a scale * to weight it with -- its a monster ring -- i'm a size 13 ring finger -- i'm 6 1 and 408 lbs --that ring would fit me nicely size wize so the man that wore uit was def a BIG FELLA -- 18 k MEANS BY ITS GROSS WEIGHT ITS 75% GOLD

IT IS SAD THING WHEN FOLKS WILL ONLY OFFER 50% OF MELT VALUE FOR THE GOLD WEIGHT IN IT * -- they really want to screw folks over -- only if yer very hard up or if the stuff is stolen swag -- will you will sell at that price in my veiw -- I mean I know they got to make a profiet but -- ONLY HALF THE MELT VALUE ? GIMME A BREAK WILL YA

banner in my book

 

[allen]

That is awesome !!
Banner for sure in my book !!

 

[KYshooter]

post office should have a scale * to weight it with -- its a monster ring -- i'm a size 13 ring finger -- i'm 6 1 and 408 lbs --that ring would fit me nicely size wize so the man that wore uit was def a BIG FELLA -- 18 k MEANS BY ITS GROSS WEIGHT ITS 75% GOLD

IT IS SAD THING WHEN FOLKS WILL ONLY OFFER 50% OF MELT VALUE FOR THE GOLD WEIGHT IN IT * -- they really want to screw folks over -- only if yer very hard up or if the stuff is stolen swag -- will you will sell at that price in my veiw -- I mean I know they got to make a profiet but -- ONLY HALF THE MELT VALUE ? GIMME A BREAK WILL YA

banner in my book

Yep, they're just taking advantage of people, for sure. I can mail it off and get 98% spot if I want to. But it's worth more to me as a relic (and as some gold "security").

I mentioned to some of my friends on Sunday that I needed a jewelry scale for my finds. One of them is a deputy sheriff in a nearby community. He assured me that they have a couple of shelves full of them in their old "dead evidence" locker (cases closed ... drug perps in jail). He told me he would get me a good one ... would even make sure all the crack is wiped clean.

Geoff

 

[Eric Willoughby]

He told me he would get me a good one ... would even make sure all the crack is wiped clean.

Geoff
[/quote]

 

[KYshooter]

He told me he would get me a good one ... would even make sure all the crack is wiped clean.

Geoff

[/quote]

Thought you'd like that ...

The dude at the first "we buy gold" place I took the ring to for weighing looked like a crack dealer ... with a steady stream of clients with
"pants on the ground" bringing in bling for trade. I took one look and decided not to show my ring under those circumstances ... figured I might get shot on the way back to the car.

Still no word on the scale yet, but I'm still hoping!

 

[ivan salis]

post office got scales in it for weighing of packages

 

[KYshooter]

post office got scales in it for weighing of packages

I tried one of those. It said it weighed a full 1/2 ounce. About 4 grams high. Not sensitive enough .. or can't be trusted.

You make the call ...

 

[mosemeister]

Great video and terrific finds!!!! That is one huge gold ring!!!! How exciting to see it!!!! It's amazing what lies buried in the ground. Thanks for sharing, Ky Shooter!

 

[dscott67]

keep a hold on the Big Gold !!! super nice ring !!