Help with date

[Chapman101]

ent]Can someone help me with the marks and date on my ring Edward Durham & Co.Gold, 18 carat, Chester, ?, 1667?

 

[VRBeauty]

It's hard to distinguish the symbols from a photograph. Here are two good sources assuming your ring is indeed British in origin:

http://www.gold-traders.co.uk/hallmarks/
https://theassayoffice.co.uk/help-with-hallmarks/current-and-historic-assay-offices

And one more: http://aju.langantiques.com/

 

[Chapman101]

Does this help?

 

[VRBeauty]

If it's Chester I'd guess 1905,

http://www.925-1000.com/dlChester.html

 

[Diamondless]

It's a cursive F, definitely Chester 1906.

 

[Chapman101]

Excuse my ignorance but what does Cursive F mean. Also can you tell me what 1667 indicates?

Thanks

 

[VRBeauty]

Please understand that none of us are (as far as I know) experts on dating antique jewlery, we're just trying to help you use on-line resources to answer your questions.

The first mark (from the left) on your ring looks like a crown, which would indicate this piece was assayed in England.

The second probably indicates the metal is 18k gold.

The next mark looks like the shield with three wheat sheaves that indicate the Chester assay office. The photograph is not as clear as it could be - you're in a better position to make that comparison.

Table of historic assay office marks: http://silvermakersmarks.co.uk/index.htm

The final mark, next to the "1667," looks like a capital script "F" in a shield. (It's the symbol that looks kind of like the Fosters Freeze logo ) Comparing that to the date table for Chester in the link below, this would indicate that the ring was assayed in 1906 (rather than 1905 as I indicated earlier - Diamondless is correct.)

Date table only: http://silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Dates/Chester.html (you can click on any of the years for an expanded view.)

I have no idea what the 1667 refers to. Note that the date tables only go back to 1701. If the 1667 represents represents the date of assay... I've found no resources to support that possibility. However, the Chester logo seems to be one used after 1779.

BTW the link below includes a table that has older year marks for the Chester office. There was a script "F" used in 1669, but without any sort of surround, which is an integral part of the mark. So, combined with the fact that your ring seems to bear the newer Chester assay office mark, it still looks to me like the date mark on your ring corresponds best to the mark for 1906.

https://books.google.com/books?id=U...AEIOjAH#v=onepage&q=chester gold 1667&f=false

I hope you'll keep exploring this mystery - please let us know what you find!

 

[VRBeauty]

The first mark might be a crown indicating "gold": https://theassayoffice.co.uk/help-with-hallmarks/optional-marks