File:Medieval Finger Ring (FindID 755971).jpg

English: Copper alloy finger ring. Cast penannular band with a flat ovoid bezel bearing a deeply incised figure, either the letter T or a Tau Cross. The ring was probably cast as an elongated oval and then bent around a former and the bezel hammered flat. The band narrows gradually from the shoulders. The figure could serve as an initial if the ring bezel were used as a seal matrix, as the letter T is not reversed in this form. The use of signet rings gained wider currency from the later middle ages onwards. The Tau Cross was also a symbol associated with the early Christian St Anthony of Egypt and was regarded as a form of crucifix in the Eastern or Orthodox Christian tradition. It also interested St Francis, the founder of the Order of Greyfriars. A Poor Clare, a member of the Franciscan Order of nuns, by tradition donned a simple ring at the taking of final vows to mark her new status as a bride of Christ, so this usage symbolic is also possible. Suggested date: Medieval, 1250-1500.

Internal Diameter: 20mm, Width (at bezel): 8.8mm, Thickness (at bezel): 2.2mm, Weight: 2.72gms.