Ring well over a century unearthed at old fort

Leeuwner explained that a person not familiar with jewellery might be fooled in believing this was actual gold

February 1, 2020

Carlien Grobler 1 minute read

Riaan Leeuwer has a passion for metal detecting and belongs to the Metal Detector South Africa Club.
In this club, one can share their finds, get advice and most importantly, share their passion for this interesting hobby.
Leeuwner had the opportunity to do some detecting work of a different kind recently at the Nieuwe Republiek (New Republic) Fort, which was built in 1884 on what is now Landdrost Street.
In 1887, four cells were added to the fort to expand its use to a prison.
After a few hours of detecting, Leeuwner found what at first seemed to be a piece of metal, which the detector indicated to be in the brass-copper range.
He initially thought it might be a piece of an old pipe, but closer inspection revealed it to be something much more valuable to history.
Leeuwner explained that a person not familiar with jewellery might be fooled in believing this was actual gold.
He contacted André van Ellinckhuyzen, who then took the ring to a jeweller to be cleaned.
It turned out these rings were famous between the early 1600s right up to the early 1900s and were also known as ‘poor man’s jewellery’.
Van Ellinckhuyzen and Leeuwner estimated the ring could be as old as the founding of The Nieuwe Republiek.
Leeuwner, who had permission from the Lucas Meyer House museum to do archaeological excavation on that specific piece of land, donated the ring on Friday to be displayed by the museum.
“I do this to preserve history,” Leeuwner concluded.