The Viking Age Iron Heart Gold Ring

An outstanding piece of Viking Age jewellery from the 8th to 10th Century, this ring is extremely well detailed for its period. A central spine is met on each side by patterned gold with alternating triangles with three dots in each. A wide band, that sensibly tapers on its underside for comfortable wear.

Viking artefacts across Europe often bear distinctive punched patterns of triangles and dots. Three dots arranged triangularly (triple pelleted), within a geometric triangle, are often called Iron Heart symbols. You can find this pattern across many pieces from the period. One similar example can be seen at The British Museum.

Provenance: Acquired from a North London Gallery, previously in a private collection formed in the 1990s in the European Art Market.

Authenticity: This ring is accompanied by a Hebolabo EDXRF (Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry) report from 2020 stating the gold fineness to be 85-96% and "This gold alloy with silver and copper content is frequently used in the Viking Age (8th to 10th Century). None of the analyses give rise to the suspicion of forgery or contemporary copy".  This report was commissioned by Dr Ivan Bonchev, doctorate of  Classical Archaeology & Numismatics from Oxford University.

Size U UK / Australia, 10¼ US / Canada, and full wearable.

Note: This item is excluded from our Free Resizing service. As an ancient artefact we will not alter it.