Got my first non-recovery gold find yesterday! 10k class ring from a Trinity College there are several with the initials “AB” and a class year of 1927
This is a repost blog.
Original posts by woodrodius on subreddit r/metaldetecting on Reddit
(Click through for images of ring)
From the comments:
So bit of an update. I took it down the antique store, they confirmed it was 10 karat gold, and that it was a Trinity University 1927 class ring. The AB is likely the reverse of BA, indicating the degree, apparently it was switched back then. The JFG (or possibly JPG) was the initials of the student.
I was able to find a 1926 Trinity yearbook online, and there was a Junior named Joseph Glotzer. I did an ancestry search, he was born 1904, died 1971 in New York, which would make him 23 when he graduated, so that totally lines up. I found some Glotzer’s in the Bay Area that originated from New York, in the process of contacting them to see if they can confirm details about what might be their Great or Great-Great grandfather.
If it all checks out, I’ll be giving the ring back to them as a family heirloom, I’ll post another thread if that happens!
[deleted]: Sorry to ask a stupid question but what does non-recovery mean?
woodrodius:I’m part of the ringfinders organization, so I help recover lost jewelry for people. So I’ve found gold wedding rings and the like for people that requested help, but this is the first gold ring I’ve found detecting recreationally. :)
[deleted]:Nice. Thanks. I’ve thought about joining that organization. Would you recommend it? (another stupid question) 😉
woodrodius: Totally, it’s a lot of fun to find stuff for people, and you tend to make a bit of reward money if you’re interested in that.
Fogmoose:May I ask where you found it? Thats a LOT of wear on that sucker. Looks like it rubbed on something for a loooong time.
woodrodius: 6 points 3 years ago
California, north of San Francisco
(Text from images transcribed below.)
Back in June I was metal detecting a local park when I found a 10k gold class ring, class of 1927. It was extremely worn, but ‘Trinity’ was visible, and on the inside of the band were the initials ‘JFG’
I initially thought it was Trinity college in Connecticut and hunted down a lead I found regarding a student with JG initials, but a family member got back tome and said that the middle name didn’t match, and he didn’t think the ring was from Trinity college.
So, with my new digital microscope, I decided to have a closer look, and I found ‘University’ on the bottom portion of the ring face. This led me to discovering a Trinity University in Texas from that era (which has since relocated) and luckily they kept a digitzed library of yearbooks running all the way back to the 1800’s.
I found the 1927 yearbook and started going through the seniors and sure enough, there was a Jay F. Gamel who graduated that year. Now we were getting somewhere!
I googled the name and found that he had passed away in 1969 (He was also both a WW2 and Korean War veteran). I was able to find an image of his gravestone in San Antonio. I then began browsing Facebook for that last name, and I found someone who lived 25 miles from me. I checked out his page, and wouldn’t you know it, he had a memorial post for his father with the same gravestone pictured. We’d found our man!
I finally was able to get in touch with him and it turns out some burglars had robbed his house about ten years ago, and the class ring was among one of the objects stolen. How it made it into the park is anyone’s guess. He was obviously shocked and super happy, he was not expecting to see it again. After making arrangements, the 93 year old ring was back with it’s rightful owner after being missing for over a decade.
(Click through for images of text, ring, yearbook page, and protagonists.)
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