Ring Money? (Eyes Only)

[Buriedbytime&dust]

As stated by others, unfortunately it's almost certainly a harness ring or something similar. We all find loads of them - some large, some small, some flat, some rounded, but never ring money for me, sadly.

Here's a selection of mine. The first pic shows rounded ones, very similar to the one in the original post.

[Rhumours]

Yup ... rings aplenty alright. Uses - up for grabs - inevitably. But there are clues ... subtle but they are there.

Time taken to make such things when a simple knot would serve the same purpose means that durability and previous experience of the maker was brought into play.

Size would imply size of animal they were used on. Which in turn can help date it.

Flattened sides ... in jewellery there are really cool clues to the simplest things which tell you tiny bits of the story.

2018-04-17 11.46.44.jpg

a. The humble ring.

b c and d, the standard ring (shank), in cross section. C is the most comfortable to wear.

e and f .... subtle difference to shank cross section but it tells me instantly that the owner favoured wearing her rings together. Usually her engagement ring next to her plain wedding band. If the rings came in together to be sized and there is little or no wear to the engagement ring I can see at a glance that the wedding band is a higher (softer) carat than her engagement ring. If the wedding band is not worn but the basket (the structure that holds the stones) on the engagement ring has a curved groove on it I can tell the reverse is true. I know also she followed the tradition of the engement ring which helps me date her. Obviously we also have the hall mark but that won't help if it was inherited.

It's little subtle things I love ... easily cast aside but it is important ... unless you want a date for fleabay.
g .... an adaptation of the shank to allow an older person who's hands have shrunk due to age and arthritic condition ... to still wear and remove when required ... her ring. It sizes the ring down marginally but allows manipulation of it to enable removal past iregularly boney deformity. Simple but if that turned up for id it could well be ruled out as a ring.

h. the humble horsish maybe possibly ring in cross section. It should be fully rounded (i), because presumably things passing through it regularly like leather need to pass freely but a sharp corner to the inner surface of the shank will snag and wear through very quickly ... leather. With horse tack dog leads and anything of that nature including buckle arrangements ... they usually slide the strap through and that's where it sits until it breaks. Doesn't usually use the full length of leather. A few inches either side of an area.

So ... I would say anything rounded on the outer and inner surface .... possibly animal related. Square inner surface to the shank (h) ... unlikely unless they liked having new straps made lol. It is however only an observation ...

[Jungle]

I don't think these copper alloy rings were used as money,. Just strap fittings. Gold ones from the Bronze Age probably were though. Yours looks unusually corroded. Possibly by chemicals used in forestry.
If the site is scheduled you might have an issue.

I have seen it written somewhere that they used bronze and copper, why would I have a problem if scheduled? I merely picked it up off the ground.

And removed it from a SAM, if it is one, check the Magic site. The FLO is obliged to inform Natural England. As you didn't find it at night with a detector while digging holes, you would be very unfortunate to face any consequences, I would hope. It could be "confiscated".

[kenleyboy]

Been told by many these are harness rings . The lower ring is not as thick in build as the two above , about half thickness approx 2mm and much neater where as the above are a lot more crude in finish . Give a good signal !
All are about 30 mm in diameter.

rings.jpg

[jcmaloney]

Harness rings, belt rings, rabbit/fishing net rings, Dorset button frames and a million & one other uses.



"Ring Money" it most definitely is not.

[Koala]

Been told by many these are harness rings . The lower ring is not as thick in build as the two above , about half thickness approx 2mm and much neater where as the above are a lot more crude in finish . Give a good signal !
All are about 30 mm in diameter.
rings.jpg

Bottom one looks like a modern sealing washer.


The wear on the other two would suggest horse related but in truth nobody can tell

[Kefyn]

Was ring money actually 'money' at all, or just an easily transported item to barter with?
If, as Rhumours pointed out the rings were a difficult thing to make they must have been of some value and could be used in a variety of ways for many people.
So maybe any ring of bronze or even gold of a certain age would have been considered as a tradable commodity, which after all is all that modern coins are today!

[ashjacko]

Thank you all so much! it seems there is no such thing as ring money lol. How can anything ever be confirmed as ring money when it looks identical to these sort of rings?

[Lowland]

Hey ashjacko
Good thread this one
Looking at your example-the patina is interesting
Certainly has the look of a ring that’s been in the ground
For a good long while...or perhaps unusual soil conditions have affected it
I think- rhumours floated the idea of forestry chemicals?
All possible.
So given the findspot....your find could be a really old
Multi purpose ring.

As kefyn suggests they would be good bartering stock.

[ashjacko]

Hey ashjacko
Good thread this one
Looking at your example-the patina is interesting
Certainly has the look of a ring that’s been in the ground
For a good long while...or perhaps unusual soil conditions have affected it
I think- rhumours floated the idea of forestry chemicals?
All possible.
So given the findspot....your find could be a really old
Multi purpose ring.

As kefyn suggests they would be good bartering stock.

The strange thing is it was in the centre of the iron age hillfort (inside the walls) and you wouldn't get in there with a horse and it has been covered in trees for a good couple hundred years.

One of these days I will find something exciting lol I know I have only just started and have found some great things but watching youtube vids is depressing when they all seem to find gold coins and hammy's.

[oldartefact]

Simply that many things seem to be quickly lumped in as horse tack .... whether they are or not is open for debate. Particularly when you explore the effort that went into making them. So would they have gone to all that effort for something apparently easily lost ... and lost by the bucket load .... per field ... apparently. Not so sure myself.

Whether tack related ... or make-shift "money" ... they were lost by the bucket load, in both cases I guess. As the maker of the things ... I would be expecting that they would be lost by the bucket load, whether attached to horses, or humans. So I am note sure what can be deduced

[Koala]

Thank you all so much! it seems there is no such thing as ring money lol. How can anything ever be confirmed as ring money when it looks identical to these sort of rings?

Get excited if you find one of these

https://finds.org.uk/database/search/re ... NULAR+RING

[amphora]

ROFLOL. A small selection of those of mine.... all kind of sizes, shapes, thicknesses, ....

[f8met]

They were really easily made and were rough cast touching each other. If you look at some of the less worked ones you will see the flats were they were touching before they were fettled.