Lost Class Ring (UK)

[Chopper]

Hi all,

My name is Lee, and I'm from a little town called Widnes, Cheshire in England.

A few weeks ago (Sat 13th Aug 2010) I was metal detecting the site of the former Burtonwood Airbase, which was used by the USAAF from 1942, until 1995. I foung what appears to be a 1948 high school/college/university ring. There is a crest on the black stone at the top of the ring, and the left side has the number 48, and the right the letters ND. Inside are the letters HJ10K, and the owners initials.

I would dearly love to find the owner of this ring, and return it to them. Unfortunately, I'm having great difficulty in identifying the crest/seal on the ring.... without this, finding the owner will be impossible.





I've also opened up a YouTube account, and a Twitter account. My Twitter account name is Lost_Class_Ring, and below I have posted the first video on my mission to identify the ring.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvrApLUYnik[/video]

You can also view the thread on our UK metal detecting forum here (hope this is ok with the admin)
http://www.metaldetectingforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2491

Can anyone help me to identify the crest/seal on this ring?

Cheers,
Lee

 

[edjcox]

Wow

Notre Dame ? or North Dakota
Class of 1948

Good Luck

 

[Chopper]

Hi Ed,

I've spoken to both Notre Dame, and North Dakota, and neither one seem to think that it's one of theirs. :sad:

Sadly, the ring manufacturer - Herff Jones, have not been very helpful. I've had more help from another manufacturer... Balfour. Those guys have offered to check their archieve to see if it matches anything that they've done. They've been great.

It really is frustrating! Two months of research, and still no further along! Someone, somewhere, must know what this crest represents!

 

[Chopper]

I've now set up a Blog, in the hope of getting this story out there.

http://lostclassring.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Lee

 

[srf2112]

Nice work Chopper. Good luck and let us know if you locate the owner.
HH
Scott

 

[edjcox]

The winged bomb indicates Aviation Ordinance..

48th might relate to 48th RAF Squadron

ND might be the organization of the owner

PM me with the name engraved in the ring...

 

[fenian13]

Honesty is refreshing...Good luck finding the owner.

 

[Chopper]

Hi Ed, Sorry for the delay in replying mate, I've been worked off my feet recently!

The aviation ordnance call looks good, although the wings are pointing downwards on the ring, whereas the AO bomb's wings appear to be straight, and horizontal. I very much doubt that it has any British connection at all. The rings manufacturer is Herff Jones, and is made of American gold. I firmly believe that it's an American ring, owned by a USAAF serviceman.

I only have the initials from the inside band of the ring. I'll PM you them.

Cheers,
Lee

 

[edjcox]

After reviewing the image and some other rings made by the manufacturer I concluded that the image is of a bird not a bomb. So the ring comes from a Catholic College or University. Both Notre Dame and Univeristy of North Dakota (not Catholic) have utilized the intertwined ND in their rings and logo's.

The PAPAL crown with Cross atop also supports my assertion.

You might see if you can get Alumni lists for the year on the ring and do a search for the intiials. May not be a male ring... What size is it?

Good luck

Ed

 

[edjcox]

How about the Saint James HS in Grand Forks ND. School is closed though and getting information may be tough... Catholic HS that fell on tough times and had to fold.

 

[MAcle1997]

I'd have to say the ND stands for Notre Dame or another school with those initials. I can't imagine a state abbreviation figuring so prominently on a class ring. Many schools could use the ND so it will be hard to track down. Good luck!

Mark