1878 Fraternal Society Ring

I'm hopin' you meant 'aw, shucks' ?

 

I'm laughing! Please, please forgive me. I did indeed mean "Aw, shucks"! (And clearly, it's time for me to give up Scrabble.)

Debora

 

ummm....you meant Shucks !!! right?..eh!!

 

Sniped by Deb & Bosko....................... Aww shucks !

 

Pullin' yer leg...meanwhile-looks like Opie's got bigger fish to fry !

 

Welcome, angellionel. What an intriguing find. Just curious: how deep was the water you had to retrieve it from?

Maybe you could give us links to any Internet sources you consulted so that we don't have to do the work all over again.

"the word "Hope," I'm leaning more toward the Hope Temple of Honor chapter."

I think this is it exactly.

This may be correct, but I do not think it is entirely apparent. It is not clear to me that 12 - 78 is a date. Such organizations would come up with pseudo-mystical creeds & rituals. If I were back in algebra class, I would read that as 7 equals (12 minus 78) over HDP. Could indicate when WPE was inducted into membership; could represent some "mystical" formula of their own devising.



The triangle with what could be an eye at the center is of course very Masonic, the Trinity and the all-seeing eye of God. I do not know what the L & P at the foot of the 2 middle columns would stand for. Loyalty? Patriotism? Foundational values/beliefs. And are there additional letters either side that have become effaced? I see both 6-pointed stars & a 5-pointed one. Again, no idea what this meant to them.

In reference to the Sons of Temperance, AI coughed up this: Specific rituals and degrees (Love, Purity, Fidelity). If this group followed the S of T in this, the symbol of the clasped hands, the ancient fede, may indicate that the owner had attained the degree of Fidelity, although also suggestive of a secret brotherhood handshake. Since the Temple of Honor started as sort of a super-degree, the latter may be all there is to it.

 

Like Bronwen's suggestion of an arcane formula- these secret societies could get pretty deep.
It reminds of something out of a Dan Brown book.
PS-A large portion of this ring to my amateur eyes looks hand carved ?

 

....
similar script for an Edwardian ring..

 

this may be relevant ..........

• 12-'78: This represents the date December 1978. It denotes when the original owner received a specific degree or landmark achievement within the fraternity.
  Scottish Rite, NMJ
• 
  
• H.D.P.: This is a direct French Masonic abbreviation for "Haut Degré Philosophique" (High Philosophical Degree). In French Masonic rites, it is common to use fractional lines or distinct abbreviations when identifying advanced degrees.
  

 

Thank you, Debora. Yes, those are some of the resources I will be making use of. I just have to allocate some time toward that effort.

Thank you, Bronwen. The ring was retrieved from waist-deep water in an area which would typically have been shoulder-deep. At that time, the water level in the pond had gone down quite a bit. I used Google's Gemini AI for my research, but I had to be careful with the information it provided, as it often "hallucinated" some of the data. This became evident when I asked for links to the sources from which it derived the information: "The information previously provided was an algorithmic hallucination that mixed separate historical facts."

The ring does not have a maker's mark, which leads me to believe that it was a custom-engraved piece that had been commissioned locally.

Thank you, komokwa. That is also helpful information.

 

Yeah, that was my reaction as well.

 

It does look like a one-off. Some stores had jewelers who made things instead of just repairing or selling them. I have a totally one-off ring myself. No markings whatever. It was made to hold a low-grade specimen garnet. I dug mine out of a yard sale.(LOL)

 

That is a nice "dug" find, in my book.

 

So if the info komo found is trustworthy, the "formula" may indicate that December, 1878 was when WDP attained the 7th & highest degree.

I do most of my detecting in that body of water known as the E Bay.

 

That is what I am thinking. There must be information on WDP, perhaps in periodicals from that period. There has to be a member's list archived somewhere.

That "body of water" known as eBay can sometimes yield some neat finds too.

 

@Bronwen .........No u di ' nt ...

 

Glad I'm not the only one 'hallucinating'. Does that mean all those AI Tech Bros are too, cause they sure are actin' weird ?