875 stamp on ring I found?

Kushy

Jr. Member
Nov 27, 2022
22
44
Good day All,
I found this ring this morning out detecting by a boat ramp.

Not sure about the other markings on the ring, but I could make out 875 stamp with my jewllers loup?

The ring looks more silver than gold.

Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.
 

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Red-Coat

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Dec 23, 2019
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I would think probably silver. Since 1700 Russia, members of its old empire, and of the former USSR commonly operated with four silver standards based on the now obsolete unit of weight called the ‘zolotnik’. The standards were 96, 90, 84, and 62 zolotniki. There were 96 zolotniki to the troy pound, so 84/96 zolotniki equated to 875/1000 fine in western terms and was later marked as such with the 875 stamp, especially on jewellery for export.

Difficult to say where the ring is from without seeing the marks in full, but the general format of the three marks looks like it might be from Estonia and between 1924-1939. Not the only possibility though.
 

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Kushy

Kushy

Jr. Member
Nov 27, 2022
22
44
I would think probably silver. Since 1700 Russia, members of its old empire, and of the former USSR commonly operated with four silver standards based on the now obsolete unit of weight called the ‘zolotnik’. The standards were 96, 90, 84, and 62 zolotniki. There were 96 zolotniki to the troy pound, so 84/96 zolotniki equated to 875/1000 fine in western terms and was later marked as such with the 875 stamp, especially on jewellery for export.

Difficult to say where the ring is from without seeing the marks in full, but the general format of the three marks looks like it might be from Estonia and between 1924-1939. Not the only possibility though.
Hey Red-Coat, thanks for the info, I will try and clean up the ring a little better, and see if I can identify the other markings.

Thanks again for the insight, I'm doing some research on it now.
 

xr7ator

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Always learning something from Red Coat but I gotta ask. You sure the 8 is not a 9 and the 7 is not a 2?
 

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Kushy

Kushy

Jr. Member
Nov 27, 2022
22
44
Always learning something from Red Coat but I gotta ask. You sure the 8 is not a 9 and the 7 is not a 2?
No, I can confirm 875. I thought the same thing at first, that it was Sterling silver.

I'm trying to clean up the other markings, I will keep you posted.

Peace
 

Digger RJ

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Good day All,
I found this ring this morning out detecting by a boat ramp.

Not sure about the other markings on the ring, but I could make out 875 stamp with my jewllers loup?

The ring looks more silver than gold.

Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!
 

Red-Coat

Gold Member
Dec 23, 2019
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gold marked 875 is 21 karat

I was just reading that. I will be honest, I didn't know there was such a thing as 21 karat gold.

That is indeed a possibility, but it's not a common gold standard outside the Middle East and India. In both regions, they tend to like their gold very 'yellow' in colour and that's not what I see on your ring.

Also, in the third cartouche (the square one), which I think will be the maker's mark, I can see what looks like a letter 'M' as the first character. That's rather more likely for 'Russian' silver than 'Eastern' gold.
 

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Kushy

Kushy

Jr. Member
Nov 27, 2022
22
44
That is indeed a possibility, but it's not a common gold standard outside the Middle East and India. In both regions, they tend to like their gold very 'yellow' in colour and that's not what I see on your ring.

Also, in the third cartouche (the square one), which I think will be the maker's mark, I can see what looks like a letter 'M' as the first character. That's rather more likely for 'Russian' silver than 'Eastern' gold.
I think your right about the M, I'm trying to get a better picture through the jewelers loup.
 

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Kushy

Kushy

Jr. Member
Nov 27, 2022
22
44
I think your right about the M, I'm trying to get a better picture through the jewelers loup.
Sorry can't get a great pic.
I can confirm the the 875. Second mark looks like a lion. Third mark is the letter M, and possibly something else in the same mark as the M.
 

Red-Coat

Gold Member
Dec 23, 2019
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Sorry can't get a great pic.
I can confirm the the 875. Second mark looks like a lion. Third mark is the letter M, and possibly something else in the same mark as the M.

OK... a lion would be good, if it's a lion passant facing left. This would be a typical Estonian silver mark from 1924-c1939. The lion was their national mark.

Estonia.jpg

Note that the relative sizes of the '875' and 'lion' oval cartouches are subject to variation. These two marks would usually be accompanied to the right by a third cartouche (often square) with the maker mark as initials.
 

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Kushy

Kushy

Jr. Member
Nov 27, 2022
22
44
OK... a lion would be good, if it's a lion passant facing left. This would be a typical Estonian silver mark from 1924-c1939. The lion was their national mark.

View attachment 2058781

Note that the relative sizes of the '875' and 'lion' oval cartouches are subject to variation. These two marks would usually be accompanied to the right by a third cartouche (often square) with the maker mark as initials.
Thanks Red-coat.
That's it exactly.
Again, I can't thank you enough for your time and knowledge.
Truly appreciated my friend.
 

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