Class Rings

[Dancer]

Quite a few years ago they quit making class rings from Gold in my area. Couple years ago I found a stainless "Class of 2012" ring.
I know the water hunters find these often enough. Just wondering what's the Latest year Gold High School ring you've found. Latest gold one I found , 2004.

 

[Mega]

From across the pond in the UK,what exactly is a classring,i keep hearing these being mentioned and the detectorist locates and hand the ring back,but never really grasped what they are and what folks had them for.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

From across the pond in the UK,what exactly is a classring,i keep hearing these being mentioned and the detectorist locates and hand the ring back,but never really grasped what they are and what folks had them for.

must just be an american thing... when teenagers are close to graduating high school they have the opportunity to order a class ring ... a class ring commemorates completion of your required schooling and can have a few customized details added that relate to the students other interests and accomplishments. .. they always have the name of the high school embossed on them,usually around the outside of the stone...

 

[Mega]

From across the pond in the UK,what exactly is a classring,i keep hearing these being mentioned and the detectorist locates and hand the ring back,but never really grasped what they are and what folks had them for.

must just be an american thing... when teenagers are close to graduating high school they have the opportunity to order a class ring ... a class ring commemorates completion of your required schooling and can have a few customized details added that relate to the students other interests and accomplishments. .. they always have the name of the high school embossed on them,usually around the outside of the stone...

Many thanks for taking the time too explain what class rings are,we dont have anything like that in our schooling here,thanks again for solving the mystery

 

[REVIER]

Graduating from high school, college and for other graduating life events like military schools, nursing schools and many more most have the option to not only get a piece of paper to commemorate this accomplishment but also order a ring for a lifelong keepsake.
In this country this has been going on over a hundred years, a few companies make these and most were ordered with the precious metal chosen being gold...usually 10k.
There are other options nowadays, silver being one I have seen posts about.

This company has been around a long time, they are usually the company that makes the really expensive championship rings for winning professional sports teams along with more moderate but still very expensive versions for national championship college teams.
http://www.jostens.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=JostensBranded&utm_term=jostens

Here is another old company...
http://www.balfour.com/students/college/rings/

Here is a third that goes back to 1920.
https://www.herffjones.com/products/

These rings are usually cherished, and when most lose one a loss like this is usually felt deeper than other ordinary jewelry items.
For this reason when we find one here it is not just another gold ring but something special for us, also, because they are rare.

When one is returned out of the blue by someone in this hobby it is usually a joyous reunion and makes the hunter feel happy too...usually, but even though most are thankful and show it not all do.
You can feel pretty stupid turning over a piece of gold worth several hundred of dollars to someone that just grabs it out of your hand and slams their door in your face without even a thank you or treats you like an idiot in some other way for even considering doing these things.
That is not a good feeling.

Many choose to return these things whenever they can and tracking down owners of these are one of the easiest types of jewelry to do that with because the school name is part of the design and the owners initials are usually inscribed on the inside of the band.
They have had mostly good experiences and a few have had bad but they still do it.
Others won't do it at all after one bad experience.

As rare as they are they are out there...here are a few I have found all on public areas in the dirt, the largest being over 18 grams of 10k and worth close to $500 melt at the time I gave it back, the oldest one going back to 1969.

 

[Hoser John]

SS ??? never seen a junk metal classless ring. John

 

[RichW]

Thats about all my friends and I find now. If it's a class ring it's always stainless. They started really showing up when the price of gold shot up a few years back.

 

[REVIER]

I have seen many posts about stainless ones, a few made out of silver, too.
When it comes to wedding rings it seems to be a similar trend.
At one time nobody would think about anything but buying gold but now we are finding more titanium and even stainless rings than in the past.
The baby boomers and the greatest generation were great because when they got married they invested in gold...the millenials don't seem to think the same or at the very least are just cheap.

Not sure I like where this is heading but as I said...the precious metal ones are still out there hiding.
We just have to get our coils over one and actually choose to dig it because like most gold items they like to disguise themselves as something else.
Every class ring of mine, and all 10k gold and large, has come in as a lower zinc signal on all my detectors...below common zincolns and in the same range as larger pieces of can slaw that most of us go to great pains to avoid digging if they can.

 

[sprchng]

Just snagged one about two hours ago,,,19 grams of 14k from 2008
Last one I found was made of a material they call LUSTRE,,,cheap alloy
How many high schoolers can afford a giant gold ring?
The owner of this one had a Dr. for a Dad and probably dropped well over a grand for it back then at the height if the gold run up.
About $400 melt value today

 

[Dancer]

Good for you,sprchng That's sure a profitable hit.
Last one I found, the owner gave me a big hug and see you later. She was genuinely very happy though and the ring had been lost for 8 years.

 

[sprchng]

Good for you,sprchng That's sure a profitable hit.
Last one I found, the owner gave me a big hug and see you later. She was genuinely very happy though and the ring had been lost for 8 years.

LOL
The guy who lost this one was 6'1" and 305# on the HS football offensive line.
I sent him a message and we will see if he gets back to me,,,,hopefully without the hugs

 

[dfmike]

Thanks REVIER for the detailed explanation. I always wondered what they were since we don't have them here. The intricate detail makes them appealing somehow.

 

[Sod]

Good for you,sprchng That's sure a profitable hit.
Last one I found, the owner gave me a big hug and see you later. She was genuinely very happy though and the ring had been lost for 8 years.

LOL
The guy who lost this one was 6'1" and 305# on the HS football offensive line.
I sent him a message and we will see if he gets back to me,,,,hopefully without the hugs

I know where your coming from on that one Sprching. My first ring return was to a rather large excited lady who gave bid bear huge and I'm just a little guy.
GL&HH

 

[Monstercoinhunter]

Yes it's an American thing being from South Wales UK born and bred now living in Kansas I find a lot of these class rings all I can say is check out a few on YouTube there you will learn all you need to know about them

 

[Irvin D Burke]

Yes most class rings are lost by their owners but some people do something more dumb they give it to a girl then she loses it !!!! I'm still waiting for someone to find it and return it,I've waited 47years what's a few more

 

[kt]

I found a modern one last summer that was made out of some kind of proprietary silver alloy; rang in as a screaming silver signal on my Etrac. I was excited until I looked it up, and discovered it was an alloy.

I contacted the guy who owned it to see if he wanted it back, but he never returned my phone message. Oh well, I tried.