✅ SOLVED Very old skull ring turns out to solid gold. What should I do?

[OhioTrevor]

Thanks to MoleWacker, I learned that a find I posted yesterday may be a skull ring. I thought it was a cheap gold plated brass ring and had thrown it in a junk jar. I found it on the site of an 1840 home where I recovered two civil war era plates - easily the best day of metal detecting I have ever had. See yesterday’s “today’s finds” to read more. After MoleWacker’s comment, I got the ring back out tonight and realized that if I can get under the crud, there is gold there. Anyone ever see anything like this? Is it a skull ring? How should I safely clean it? Age? Any advice?

 

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[pepperj]

That's some crust build up, not sure on how to clean it up.
Best of luck

 

[Rmeav8r]

Very cool...might be worth taking it to a jeweler to get it cleaned....unless it’s one of those rare items your shouldn’t clean. Proceed carefully!

 

[mick56]

Hope it's gold, but looks like brass to me.

 

[SCpicker]

At first glance the ring looks like a skull but it is just an antique “3 stone” gold filled ring. So it has a layer of gold over a base metal. If it were gold it would be constructed differently. Fun find but your original thought was correct.

 

[OhioTrevor]

Thanks SCpicker, I hope you are wrong but suspect you are right. I'll get it to a jeweler and we'll find out.

 

[OhioTrevor]

SCPicker was right. Thanks for setting me straight on this one.

 

[Plug N Play]

What is a memento mori ring?

Memento mori is the name given to sixteenth through eighteenth-century jewelry that was created as a reminder of the inevitability of death and the need to live piously. ... Rings were the most common form of memento mori jewels although they could also take the form of lockets, pendants, and brooches.

Memento mori literally means "Remember you must die".

 

[ARC]

Unfortunately IMO...

Not a skull... or even close.

Not gold... or even close.

Save the trip to the jeweler and the jewelers off looks when you ask him to clean it.

Sorry to be bearer of bad news... but it is what it is... and in this case... it isn't.

 

[OhioTrevor]

AAC and Plug N Play, thanks. No sweat. These things are rarely as great in reality as we make them in our minds. Still, one can dream...