Ancient Rings

Book excerpt: Ancient finger rings made of base metals and low-grade silver alloys are increasingly being unearthed and sold through a growing assortment of marketplaces worldwide. Reference material on ancient rings has focused mainly on historic and "high-end" pieces--the precious metals and stones of royalty and the wealthy--while little has been written on the evaluation of common rings. This guide describes their composition, structure and imagery, thus providing merchants, collectors and researchers with a comprehensive reference on these ancient artifacts that, until now, have gone unexamined.