Early Button? Sterling Ring, and ...."UPDATED AGAIN 12/14/07"

BobinSouthVA · Dec 9, 2007

Early Button? Sterling Ring, and ...."UPDATED AGAIN 12/14/07"

Got out for about an hour this morning and did pretty well. Hoping someone can ID this button. Found it near a site which I heard had a revolutionary war camp, but that is unverified and just from one sources word of mouth.

Here is the button which has a 17 and a crown on the front, and some words on the back which I can't make out

Some strange pieces of metal. any ideas how to straighten the bent piece? I'm afraid its going to break if I try. Both have nice designs on them

Here is a picture of the inside of the ring. It has some markings below STERLING which maybe some one can recognise. Is Sterling the equivalent of .925 ?

My wife thinks the stone is real but I'm a sceptic.

Thanks for looking and HH to all.

PBK · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

The button is a British Army 17th Regiment of Foot (infantry)— Royal Leicestershire Regiment— uniform button, c. 1830-1881.

http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/017Leics.htm

The backmark appears to be that of William Jones & Co., London, c. 1859-1900. (See enhanced photo below.)

So, the button dates approximately 1860-80.

BobinSouthVA · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

Very cool.. Thanks for the ID PBK

Brings up another myster though, doing a quick scan of the timeline and placement of the regiment, it would not appear they were anywhere near SE Virginia during that time period. I'll have to read that website in more detail and see if anything pops up.

Thanks,

PBK · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

The bent piece looks as if it might be the "wreath" half (side loop missing) of a small, thin, two-piece, tongue & wreath type belt/sash buckle.

Yeasty · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

I think I read that the British sent some military observers here during our civil war. Maybe that explains it.

tymcmurray · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

That was one WELL spent hour!!!!

Mike Silver -gold · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

Sterling is the same as 925. It means it is an older ring. I don,t know when they switched . I do know in the 50,s rings were marked sterling. Mike.

BobinSouthVA · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

tymcmurray said:
That was one WELL spent hour!!!!

thanks it sure was. Almost didn't stay that long, was feeling pretty under the weather this morning. Glad I toughed it out

BobinSouthVA · Dec 9, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates

PBK said:
The bent piece looks as if it might be the "wreath" half (side loop missing) of a small, thin, two-piece, tongue & wreath type belt/sash buckle.

The inside is actually like this. (please forgive my lack of paint skills

) almost looks like a bottle opener to me but I believe the metal is way to thin for that. feels like it would bend too easily.

BobinSouthVA · Dec 11, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and some strange decorative plates" UPDATED"

Thanks for the leads PBK, you were dead on as always. I sent a message to the curator of the Royal Leicestershire Museum and got this response today.

"Dear Mr XXXXX,
Thank you for your enquiry. The item would certainly appear to be a 17th Regiment of Foot button although I cannot be as precise as your colleague with a dating. This basic design with the arabic 17 crown and laurel wreath was in use from at least 1831 to about 1881.

I can't explain why you would find this in Virginia as although the 17th Foot did serve in the American revolution they wore a much simpler design of button with the number against a plain background. The 17th Foot ( Leicestershire) Regiment did serve in Canada in the 1860s , Nova Scotia in the 1890s and in the West Indies in various periods of the 1870s to 1890s.

Best Wishes
Philip R. French
Curator Leicester history "

BobinSouthVA · Dec 14, 2007

Re: Early Button? Sterling Ring, and ...."UPDATED AGAIN 12/14/07"

Ok sorry to keep this up, but I got some more information about this ring. Here are some better pics of it.

After posting a link on a hallmark site, I got a lead which lead me to believe it was from a company called Clark & Coombs which was founded sometime in the late 1800's. I found some rings on the web by the same company and sent an email to the owner who provided me with the following messages, the second message was after I sent some better photos ::)

"Hi, Bob, and thanks for getting in touch. I love a good mystery!

That certainly does look like a Clark & Coombs ring to me. They did pretty work. The company organized during 1862 or 1872 (sources differ) in Providence and used that mark until 1915 -- so what you've got has to be Victorian, Edwardian or transitional. It seems too massive to be other than Victorian; forms lightened up later. I can't make out much detail but, from what I can see, the pattern shows Arts & Crafts and/or antiquarian influence, which would be consonant with the dating suggested by your coin finds. I'd say circa 1880 - 1900. Without seeing more detail, I can't narrow it down from there. If the stone is faceted, it would likely be earlier than a cabochon, all other things being equal. Condition is of course a principal aspect of value and assessing that always requires first-hand inspection, so you'd need to show it to a local expert to get a sense of its worth (preferably to several, on the chance that one might peg it low in hope of buying at a bargain price).

I appreciate your posting the pic online. My son (a computer professional) forbids my opening attachments from people I don't know, so I'm constantly having to beg folks who ask me about things to put their images online -- and most of them simply disappear after the suggestion!

Best regards,
Erin
P.S. - You can see a drawing of the C&C mark at http://www.chicagosilver.com/jmarks4.htm, a bit more than halfway down the page."

and the second message.

"Hi again, Bob. Those shots are quite a bit better,aren't they? I'm seeing an interesting mix of Art Nouveau with Arts and Crafts influence in that pattern now -- the curviness suggests early Nouveau, while the unusual texturing, rather simple stone mounting and sort of rustic quality is A&C. My best guess now is 1880s. If it were later, I think the stone would be a cab and the mount around it would be even simpler, just a plain bezel.

A good jeweler could probably polish out the nick in the stone, if it's fairly superficial. It would be worth it to have that done; this is a great ring! Lucky you, to have found it.

Happy Christmas to you, too, Bob.

Cheers,
Erin"

Cool stuff. Thanks for looking and HH