Old gold somehow has an immense prideful glow and so distinguished! This one makes my soul swell with pride, it's amazing that this band is here and I am eternally grateful to the person who also sees how special this one is. You could stack it with other rings but its gravitas makes it easily a one and done look.
There are three hallmarks to this band: a Georgian monarch’s head duty mark, lion passant, and a maker’s mark. I do not see clear evidence of recent resizing as high purity antique gold is notoriously difficult to color match and you can see a visible seam or a color mismatch when it is altered. It is unclear if the missing assay office and date letter was lost during the ring’s long history or were never applied in the first place.
The Georgian duty mark provides the earliest possible date of 1786, when the duty mark was introduced. The lion passant establishes a latest possible date of 1844, after this year the 22k purity had a different designation.
The lion passant was the most challenging mark for me to analyze. Most examples from this time period have the lion facing directly forward, but this example appears to be facing left. Also, the tail is noticeably chunkier and there is a missing section along the side of the lion’s head which could have been a result of a slightly imperfect stamp. The lion passant examples associated with Exeter appears to the the closest resemblance. In addition, there’s also references indicating Exeter was inconsistent in the application of assay office mark and date letters during this time frame, especially with smaller objects. This could help explain the absence of the missing marks on this ring. I can’t state it with certainty, but it could be a plausible explanation. The maker's mark "IP" could possibly be for Jonathan Perkins I or Isaac Parkin.
Specification:
Georgian era: 1786 - 1844 (possibly 1805-1817) Georgian duty mark and 22k lion passant hallmark
Maker's mark possibly Jonathan Perkins I or Isaac Parkin
22k gold
3mm width
Fits like a 5.75 ring size (5.5 official ring size)
3g weight
Condition:
Evidence of scratches on the gold. Has an oblong shape. Inside of the band has evidence of it being clearly worn in.
