RING

Probably copper alloy, but with an admixture of ferrous metal which responds weakly to testing with a magnet, ring. A cast penannular ring of round section, band diameter 11mm, with opposed solid conical terminals of diameter 22.6mm and height 16mm. The surface is probably plated with white metal, though the finder reports that robust mechanical investigation of the material failed to remove this surface. The terminals and those parts of the ring immediately adjacent have a greenish tint which is absent elsewhere along the circumference. The terminals are now 1.3mm apart, though some flexibility is apparent and, with the exertion of effort, they can be persuaded to meet.

Probably an animal ring which would depend for its function on the tensile strength remarked above, to be threaded into the nose of a bovine to lead it, or a pig to prevent grubbing. As the finder - a retired farmer - sagely comments, it would seem perilous to try to attach the object to a bull's nose as it is now, and most animal rings were of two-part hinged construction. However, the form would seem more apt to this use than any other, and the ring would perhaps be temporarily forced open at the time of fitting. The unusual characteristics of the alloy may suggest a relatively recent date, perhaps developed in course of the Industrial Revolution. Suggested date: Post-Medieval, 1750-1850

Length: 98mm, Height (including terminals): 98mm, Weight: c.240gms