LOT 0599

Post Medieval 'The Huntingdon' Gold Heraldic Signet Ring for the Third Son

16TH-17TH CENTURY AD

3/4" (5.97 grams, 19mm overall, 17.08mm internal diameter (approximate size British M 1/2, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.41, Japan 13)).

A gold signet ring comprising a slender hoop and ellipsoid bezel with heater shield in a beaded border and maker's mark to the reverse; the arms blazoned 'on a bend three lions passant with mullet for difference'; maker's mark a monogram with 'F' (or E?) to the right side.

Found with use of a metal detector in the parish of Houghton and Wyton, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire on 25th May 2018; accompanied by a copy of a report by the finder; the official Treasure valuation with Treasure reference 2018 T521 [£3,200.00; subsequently disclaimed]; a copy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme report number CAM-93065A; and several documents from the British Museum and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

See Portable Antiquities Scheme, reference CAM-93065A (this ring).

Cf. Oman, C. C., British Rings, 800-1914, pl.50, items C-F for similar examples.

The ring is of a size suitable for a child close to adulthood and the mullet (star) cadency mark indicates that the bearer was the third son of his father; the form of the arms are linked to the Emerton or Flete families. The maker's mark is partly erased through wear and is of a type known in the period.