Trade ring?

[Older The Better]

I found this in a patch of woods that has produced hardly any metal at all, the exception is there is a 1830’s trade site a couple 100 yds from where I found this. There is a large gap between the two areas where I find nothing even on 0 discovery.
My point is these two areas may or may not be related but, in the area I found this ring I have also found two trade awls and a thimble from a northwest gun so I think there’s a chance the ring is trade era.
It looks like it’s got a base metal of copper or something similar with a plating of what I think may be silver because it turned more black after a brief use of naval jelly.
Anybody know anything about trade era rings? Did I find one, is it impossible to say? I’d just love to get some more info on this

 

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[nagant]

I thought you'd get an answer here for sure. Kind of the right shape but the plating puts it 1840+ and i don't know if trade goods were ever plated.

 

[Older The Better]

Thanks for the reply. Sometimes the tnet gods are fickle haha. That’s ok I know it’s a ring and have a strong gut feeling it’s trade era, I’d just feel better about my id with some support from some knowledgeable folks.

I’ve found some similar ones on line that had glass stones, I can’t say if it’s truly plated or just dipped.


where I found it could have been a separate site from my 1830’s site. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t a good area to stop when the natives went west to hunt buffalo and this new spot was used several years after the 1830’s spot. 1840’s is very much in the realm of native settlement. The area wasn’t opened to white settlement until the 1860’s.

 

[Ia.FurTrade]

I hadn't answered because the Trade Goods I find stop about 1820. None of my Trade rings appear to have plating. However some are the single stone like yours. I guess I would need the ring in hand to really comment on it....? It certainly could be a Trade ring..........Nice find!

Iowa Dale

 

[Older The Better]

Thanks, it hadn’t occurred to me that the trade era has different end dates based on geography I’ll be sure to include location info on future posts. It’s encouraging to know someone has single stone rings.
Does anybody know if they would have dipped rings like they did flat buttons? Because from what I can find the more basic the ring the earlier it is, which suggests this one is early and the northwest gun thimble would also be earlier
So if it wasn’t for the plating issue I’d say I’d be looking at something more in the late 1700’s range not mid 1800’s

 

[beadman2]

Glass cabochon trade ring

Thanks, it hadn’t occurred to me that the trade era has different end dates based on geography I’ll be sure to include location info on future posts. It’s encouraging to know someone has single stone rings.
Does anybody know if they would have dipped rings like they did flat buttons? Because from what I can find the more basic the ring the earlier it is, which suggests this one is early and the northwest gun thimble would also be earlier
So if it wasn’t for the plating issue I’d say I’d be looking at something more in the late 1700’s range not mid 1800’s

its definitely a trade ring,appears to be a later version ,similar to what you would find on a 1700s site ,these are known as glass stone trade rings ,yours having a center stone known as a cabochon, because its round...they come in many different glass stone colors and different glass stone configurations, yours being the simple plain single stone cabochon.....refer to michigan ft michilimac etc for reference ,lots of those found in that region ,hope this helps

 

[Older The Better]

I always try to stay open to the fact somebody can come along and prove me wrong and that’s ok I want to know what a thing is. I’m not looking for people to tell me what I want to hear.
that said I’m glad to get some great info and input in favor of it being a trade ring I feel comfortable calling it one until proven otherwise thank you for the info it will give me some more avenues to research

 

[beadman2]

Your welcome,wish I could tell you more ,but I'm very certain it's a glass stone ring,I wish I could figure out pictures ,I'd show you my trade rings,mine are 1600s&1700s...ny.....,I've seen a lot of those types of rings ,they are all basically the same and could even prob go into the early 1800s....the rarer type is a square princess cut center stone / 2 small round stones to the side ,2 examples have been found in ny that I know of ,mine dated to 1650 for certain,but was missing the glass stones (all of them) which is usually the case,or at least some stones missing...so I sold the band,....I want a complete one with all stones

 

[Relicific]

I believe it is a trade ring with stone missing.
Here’s a pic of my trade ring w/o stone

 

[Ia.FurTrade]

I believe it is a trade ring with stone missing.
Here’s a pic of my trade ring w/o stone

I haven't found any on my sites with square mounts..........Interesting!

Iowa Dale

 

[JohnnyRelic]

It is a trade ring. I have one just like it from a 1830's era village site. It is missing the stone...or maybe never had one.

 

[nagant]

I found these in the book "where two worlds meet", the great Lakes fur trade.

 

[beadman2]

They more than likely had the glass stones at one point...that's another unusual square type ,without the side smaller stones,there are a few unusual types of those, but round type being most common,many types of different colored stones though....I had the pleasure to view 2 local rings with glass stones found on a site at geneseo NY dating 1700,both were round bezel no side stones ,amethyst and green in color ,and complete....

 

[A2coins]

Great relic either way that's really cool

 

[Older The Better]

Thanks for the info, I should check my thread more often, been heavy into the na artifact hunting lately, once the leaves and crops cover everything and make surface hunting nearly impossible I’ll switch back to the metal detector. I took several scoops of dirt from around the hole and sifted them no glass or gems,

This is an older find, I didn’t think was a ring just because it was so basic, I found it a couple 100 yards from the first one. I thought maybe it was a band that wrapped around a gun barrel or a handle or something, now I’m thinking its probably a ring too

 

[NWMP]

Yes it's a trade ring, I have a bunch of them. My favorite is the glass "nipple" ring, I have a couple of those I think. See one up close and the name makes perfect sense.

 

[Hardy]

All in All a good find!