Gold ring engraved inside with Prayer of Saint Zacharias, approx. 20K, size 7-1/2, ex-1715 Fleet. 2.84 grams. Among the many jewels recovered from the 1715 Fleet (both by salvors and on the beach) were three gold rings plus one gold bracelet that all bore mysterious engraved crosses and letters, which we have deciphered to be what is known as the Prayer of Saint Zacharias, a divine intercession against the Black Death, from a collection of prayers against plague recorded by Saint Zacharias (d. 116 AD), preserved by Spanish monks, and approved by the Council of Trent in 1546. In our own time (even used to ward off COVID-19!) more typically we see the abbreviated prayer on double-armed crosses. The inscription inside this ring reads +Z+DIA+BIZ+SAB+Z+HG+F+BFS (see below for full text of this prayer). This ring, like the others found, is fairly large for the period and bears a little crease where the thin band was fused after engraving, but in fact it is pristine and as bright in gold as the day it was lost, all the various letters and crosses very sharp and clear. The outside bears no engraving nor ornamentation. XRF: 85% gold, 7% silver. From the 1715 Fleet.
($3500-7000)