Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Mexican Silver Ring.I mentioned before that marked silver Mexican jewelry is collected. This piece is clearly marked and I managed to get a photo of the marking.
First, you can see the purity of the silver. It is sterling (925) silver. Mexican silver can be found in other purities, such as 800, 880, and 980, for example.
The piece that I showed yesterday, if you take another look, does look like it could be Mexican, but it is not marked.
"TC-21" tells you that the item comes from Taxco, a town in Mexico. If it was made in Mexico city the first letter would be M.
The "C" is the first letter of the artist's last name. And the 21 indicates that this particular artist is the 21st registered in Mexico with a last name that begins with C.
Unfortunately I have not been able to find a list giving the name of C-21. Maybe someone can help me out with that.
This marking system was adopted around 1979, so we know that the ring is not a any older than that.
Here is a link to a site giving more information on the marks found on Mexican silver jewelry.
http://www.925-1000.com/mexican_marks.html
This reminds me of the bullet that I recently was able to trace back to the date and place of manufacture thanks to the help of one of this blog's readers. It is nice to find such informative markings on finds.
Now that I know the name of the city that the ring came from, here is a little more information about that place.
The old city of Taxco de Alarcon was an important city for the Aztecs. The present day city is 12km from the old Taxco, which was conquered in 1531 by Rodrigo de Castañeda and Miguel Diaz de Aux. The silver mines were discovered there by the explorers Juan de la Cabra and Juan de Salcedo in 1534. It was one of the most important mining centers during the reign of Charles V.
There is a good strong north/northeast wind this morning. Yesterday I mentioned the north wind being expected and that is what happened.
I haven't been out to the beach to see what is going on but it is probably way too early anyhow. I'd expect some sand to be moved, but it would be just a start on all of that recently accumulated sand.
Seas are expected at five feet and above later today and for a day or two more. I'd think that tomorrow might be worth checking. I'll check things out later and give a report.
We've had quite a series of cold fronts this winter. This is probably one of the last. We usually have a decent storm in the spring sometime.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
