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IV
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SOME INTERESTING RINGS OF HISTORY
T
HE principal types
of the rings used as insignia, religious or secular, or as signets, as
well as of those devoted to some special purpose or believed to possess
talismanic or magic virtue are treated of in other chapters. There are
many rings, however, which owe their chief or only interest to their
association with some particular historic personage, event or period,
while often the mere fact that the ornament has been owned by a famous
person suffices to make it precious and interesting; in a number of
cases the ring itself has been closely connected with some important
historic happening or else with some cherished legend. Examples of
this are the ring of Essex in Elizabeth's time, and the legendary ring
of Edward the Confessor, regarding the stone setting of which several
discrepant accounts exist. The Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris has in
its Cabinet des Médailles, two massive gold rings, in each of which the
chaton is formed by an ancient coin. In one is set a rare gold quinarius of Maximinus (235-238 a.D.) with
his effigy, and the ring is believed to have been made during this
giant emperor's brief reign; the other bears a golden solidus probably
of Clotaire II, King of the Franks, who reigned from 584 to 628 A.D.
This coin shows a figure of the king with the name Chlotarius Rex, and
the mint-mark of the city of Arras. The coin is more than3/4 inch in
diameter.1
1
Chabouillet, " Catalogue general et raisonné des camées et pierres
gravées de la Bibliothèque Nationale," Paris, 1858, p. 388, 389 ; Nos.
2636, 2639. 162
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