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Description: | The hoop is triangular in section and is crudely engraved with letters. An iron stone is set into a fluted bezel which is supported by two animal heads. A small cross has been punched into the hoop at its narrowest point, opposite the bezel. The inscription occupies the two registers of the ring formed by its triangular section. It is not decipherable but may be amuletic in character. The setting of iron is very unusual and may also indicate that the ring was believed to have special, curative powers. A similar, 14th century, ring set with an opal and carrying a known amuletic inscription is in the British Museum collection (O M Dalton, Catalogue of Finger-rings in the British Museum (London, 1912), cat. no. 866). X-ray fluorescence analysis conducted at the British Museum indicated an approximate gold content of 58 per cent with 33 per cent silver. Weight: 1.6g. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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