Help to identify old gold ring with palm tree stamping/hallmark

mindcrime1988 · Oct 6, 2024

I recently found this old ring which I believe may go back to the 1800s, possibly earlier. :dontknow:

There is not any stamping to signify percentage or karats of gold present but there is a stamp of a palm tree on the backside of the bridge.

I've researched quite a bit but cannot find anything to help me with a rough date or the company who made the ring. Are there any gold enthusiasts out there who can help me identify this ring? Appreciate any information.

tamrock · Oct 8, 2024

Well you got a good picture of it, but it's not a touch mark that I recognize right away. Maybe Red-Coat will know. I'm thinking he has some book references on marks. The ring does look like solid gold to me.

TORRERO · Oct 8, 2024

mindcrime1988 said:
I recently found this old ring which I believe may go back to the 1800s, possibly earlier. There is not any stamping to signify percentage or karats of gold present but there is a stamp of a palm tree on the backside of the bridge.

I've researched quite a bit but cannot find anything to help me with a rough date or the company who made the ring. Are there any gold enthusiasts out there who can help me identify this ring? Appreciate any information.

Just my opinion, don't shoot the messenger, but it appears to be plated in the pictures, I've never seen brown coloring like that on real Gold, the Ring is cool as sht though ... I'm no help with the Palm Tree marking either, but that's a really cool mark also..
Something else I find odd, is that they would put a stamp on the ring, but no Karat mark ? Obviously if it was a reputable dealer they would put a Karat mark on it to prove gold content and be able to get the best price.

tamrock · Oct 8, 2024

TORRERO said:
Just my opinion, don't shoot the messenger, but it appears to be plated in the pictures, I've never seen brown coloring like that on real Gold, the Ring is cool as sht though ... I'm no help with the Palm Tree marking either, but that's a really cool mark also..

Yeah, the one photo looks gold in color, but the other two don't.

mindcrime1988 · Oct 9, 2024

A little more backstory on this. Yesterday I went to a jeweler to ask about this ring. I had my doubts about it being gold as well when I didn't see any karat stamp and to me the ring looked like it was plated. This is evident in the first set of photos. Well after I cleaned it up, it turned out quite nice and the jeweler did confirm that it was gold. He stated it was 10K but couldn't give me any more information on it. I'm thinking since I wasn't there to buy anything, he wasn't too excited to help me out any more than necessary. :laughing7:

I know the US is required to stamp gold jewelry with karats since 1906. That much I found on the internet. So, either this ring was made outside of the US or it is older than 1906 (which I'm really hoping is the case). Here are the most recent photos of the ring. I think it might be a two piece since there is one small split and revealed itself after many years of wear or the original jeweler didn't correctly fill it. Maybe that is normal for older rings? :dontknow:

Plus, I did find some faint lettering on the inside of the band. I will let y'all make the call on what it says.
And to me it looks like a palm tree for the stamping but I could be way off.

TORRERO · Oct 9, 2024

mindcrime1988 said:
A little more backstory on this. Yesterday I went to a jeweler to ask about this ring. I had my doubts about it being gold as well when I didn't see any karat stamp and to me the ring looked like it was plated. This is evident in the first set of photos. Well after I cleaned it up, it turned out quite nice and the jeweler did confirm that it was gold. He stated it was 10K but couldn't give me any more information on it. I'm thinking since I wasn't there to buy anything, he wasn't too excited to help me out any more than necessary.

I know the US is required to stamp gold jewelry with karats since 1906. That much I found on the internet. So, either this ring was made outside of the US or it is older than 1906 (which I'm really hoping is the case). Here are the most recent photos of the ring. I think it might be a two piece since there is one small split and revealed itself after many years of wear or the original jeweler didn't correctly fill it. Maybe that is normal for older rings?

Plus, I did find some faint lettering on the inside of the band. I will let y'all make the call on what it says.
And to me it looks like a palm tree for the stamping but I could be way off.

Just from personal experience, 10K rings will split or break along the band, I believe, because of the low gold content and other metals that are used to make the gold content, If its been in the ground a long time. The metal may become brittle and crack or break when recovered.
I've had maybe 3-4 10K rings do this, from the beach or land.. seems
I have never had a 14K or 18K ring do that..
My most recent 10K class ring