Mystery Ring

[Ray in CA]

Hey folks,

Well, the weather is finally cooperating this week so I decided to head out this morning and get a little detecting time in. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go and just kept driving around until I found an old (unused) road with a BLM trail off to the side. I got out and walked around a bit noticed a bunch of old cans that normally populate an old mining site. So I went back to my car and got the Safari and went to work for about 45 minutes.

Long story short, I found this neat but mysterious ring. It's a gold plated copper ring with no lettering on it of any kind. It does have a shield outline, some decorative lines and circles, and what appears to be a bear or beaver image to the left side inside the shield. Or could this just be a random scratch from a rock or something? I don't know. The size of the ring is so small it doesn't even fit over the first knuckle of my pinky!

The area where I found this is a couple miles from old town Shasta, so it is definitely within the vicinity of various mines. And the time frame for this ring could be anywhere between latter part of the 1800s to the 1940s. Anyone ever seen a ring like this?

HH,

Ray

 

[washingtonian]

Maybe a family crest of some sort? Sweet find!

 

[ivan salis]

badge design looks sorta like the union pacific RR sheild -design

 

[savant365]

I don't know how long they have been around but the way the ring is designed it looks like a toe ring.

 

[ivan salis]

small sized rail road chinese coolie labors * after getting free of their rail road many turned to mining (or working in mining camps as laborers ) as a means of support

 

[Ray in CA]

hehe, I doubt it's a toe ring, savant, but I have to admit I thought about it for a second after cleaning it.

Interesting information there, Ivan. The crest made me think it was something along the lines of some fraternal order or something. Didn't think about a RR man but that's a possibility too. Either way, it's an old find. I just wish it had all its gold plating intact.

@ Washingtonian: hey, how have you been doing up in the land of rain, rain, rain? Get any silver yet?

Ray

 

[wwwtimmcp]

I think girl scouts

 

[g-olden years]

Maybe it's not a ring? Possibly meant to fit around the neck of a tiny bottle or other commercial object? This is just an intuitive guess. Hope someone gives you a positive i.d. Andi