My Grandmother just found a Freemason Ring. Please look.

reply to post by felonius


Oh yes, the masons are very benevolent to all of mankind.

They give freely to:

The masons hospital
The masons widow fund
The masons orphanage
The masonic annual feast.
The upkeep of lodges.
A fund for masons in distress.

They truly pour vast sums of money into many closed and self serving charities, which is all truly wonderful to behold.

Imo this whole thing remind me of

My Prrecciioussssss........

Originally posted by Silver Shadow
reply to post by felonius

 

Oh yes, the masons are very benevolent to all of mankind.

They give freely to:

The masons hospital
The masons widow fund
The masons orphanage
The masonic annual feast.
The upkeep of lodges.
A fund for masons in distress.

They truly pour vast sums of money into many closed and self serving charities, which is all truly wonderful to behold.

Oh, you forgot one.

They seem to not be interested in who you are. They help every child they can, free of charge.

In my area we donate to the masonic home for children. Yea, it sounds like it's just for masons, but actually it's just for children.

reply to post by Revolution-2012

I don't understand, why don't you return the ring to it's rightful owner? Or place an add, so they know you have it? Am I to understand correctly you don't want to do that because the Masons never did anything for the region where you live? I don't understand the logic in that. I'm not out to attack you, but this ring may be of great emotional value to somebody. Why do you insist on a finders fee? Sometimes it doesn't hurt to do a friendly, selfless thing, you know.



[edit on 15-3-2010 by Gwynniver]

Seriously people, leave the guy alone already..he found it he can do whatever he wants with it. People should not force their opinion on others..it's as simple as that. You should give suggestions but this thread has taken then turn of "forcing opinion".

Originally posted by Revolution-2012
reply to post by felonius

 

I've got a hefty bill due to the hospital, and my teeth are crap, I have no insurance, and that's all in thanks to the government,
[edit on 14-3-2010 by Revolution-2012]

The above explains alot

Any who, Masons do a lot in your area I’m 100% sure of it. I'm sure you would see if you looked.

Keep the ring or sell the ring, a ring does not make the brother but the brother makes the ring.

-Al

Have you considered that the owner may not even be a mason? That they just have an interest in the memorabilia.

Why is it always someone else's fault?

I would suggest contacting your local masonic lodge and ask if any of their members have lost a ring. Most likely the owner was a member and lost something very dear to them. It looks well worn as well.

Who knows, maybe they will reward you by sharing the secrets of the universe?

reply to post by Silver Shadow

Untrue.

Shriner's hospital: free to any child

KTEF: Free eyecare to those in need and can't afford it

Child ID program: Free to anyone

RARA: Gives money for medical research

I believe the Scottish Rite does something with schizophrenic research and also has a tutor program for children.

A local Lodge picks a needy family every year (non-Masons) and gives them food and presents for Christmas.

Bikes for Books is for any school child that completes the program.

My Lodge gives out scholarships to graduating high school seniors.

The only fund for Brothers is the Almoners fund and that covers everything from widow's to relief, but that is the smallest fund in my Lodge at least.

Originally posted by KSigMason
I believe the Scottish Rite does something with schizophrenic research and also has a tutor program for children.

I'm personally not aware of schizophrenia research, but we do have programs for kids with learning and communication disorders, as well as a top research hospital for treating scoleosis and other spinal deformities and cochlear implants for profoundly deaf children.

Since the hospital’s inception in 1921, no patient family has been charged for services. The hospital operates solely on voluntary gifts from generous individuals, corporations and foundations.

[edit on 3/15/2010 by JoshNorton]

[edit on 3/15/2010 by JoshNorton]

reply to post by December_Rain


I dont think that someone posting on an open forum can be construed as having other peoples opinions "forced" on them.

If he didnt want to hear other peoples opinions, he should have just sold the ring on his own. Its clear that what he wanted to do from the start. He didnt need anyones help here to figure that out.

As for those who say the $20-$30 prices seem way out of line, considering that a new ring is $600, you need to understand pricing better. It probably is worth more than 20-30 bucks right now, as gold is high per ounce. But when you pay retail cost for a ring, you are paying for a lot of other things besides the gold. You are paying for the worksmanship, and the overhead cost, and profit for the dealers....yadda yadda. When you sell an old ring, you are getting the value of the gold minus smelting costs, just like another poster said.

And just because you cant find rings like it anymore for sale retail doesnt mean it is worth a lot. It means that it is old and out of fashion. Not everything old and out of fashion is valuable. You may be lucky enough to find a collector who may want it, but it is in really bad shape, so good luck with that.

The OP is just the person that he is. His poverty does not make him greedy and mean spirited. His poverty is the excuse he uses to be mean and greedy. There are a lot of poor people who would do the right thing, and make an effort to find the owner of the ring, and return it.

You reap what you sow.

reply to post by Revolution-2012


Wow! I have that same exact ring that my grandfather used to have!

he had another one that move like a key and has a diamond in front of image!

The ring is worth more than 10 to 30 dollars, it just takes some simple math to figure out. I dont know the exact weight of the ring without holding it or putting it on a scale but to me it looks like its at the very least 5 grams but could be upwards of 10 grams.

All we have to do is take todays gold price which as I write this is 1,106 an ounce and divide it by a troy ounce(31.103) and then multiply that by the gold purity which is .417 for 10k. So 1106/31.103=35.55x.417=14.82 so thats 14.82 dollars per gram at spot value. A good pawn shop should be getting at least 90% spot value when they sell gold to smelters so drop 14.82 down to 13.34 and you have minimum what the pawn shop would get selling the ring for melting purposes.

Now what they will give you varies quite a bit. Different shops will quote you different prices. Some might only give you $5 a gram but they are obviously trying to rip you off. I wouldnt accept any less than 8 or 9 dollars a gram as they probably wont melt it anyway, mason rings sell very well at pawn shops. They are always something people are interested in. Anyway, 8x5= $40 minimum but I think the ring is more like 10 grams so somewhere between $50 and $80, and then the pawn shop would probably sell the 10k gold at $15 or $16 a gram and if it didnt sell after a few months, they would melt it. Worth and what it can be sold for are two very different things, since the shop would end up getting anywhere from $100 to $200 for it when selling it depending on its weight but you would get less than half of that.

I thought that was gonna be a bit shorter of a post it kind of got away from me, lol.

Edit: I forgot to say, when you sell an item at a pawn shop you usually have to fill out a form where you say the item is owned by you and you did not find the item. I dont know how it is in the state you live in but in colorado at the end of the day or wekk every pawn shop has to send in the tickets for each item they have taken in to the police. The police then go over all tickets and check to see if they match any recently stolen or lost item. If it does match an item then the person listed as selling it will receive at least one felony for lying to a pawn broker on the form and then another charge of theft.

[edit on 15-3-2010 by xexok]

[edit on 15-3-2010 by xexok]

The ring is worth about $35 US.

Maybe you should meet the owner. Dress like a man and wear it to one of their meetings. )

reply to post by Revolution-2012


Soak it in a jar of human feces for a month, then run the "lost fraternal ring" ad.

Your Grandmother should take it to the nearest Masonic Lodge from where she found the ring .I am sure that there is a brother that is beside himself about losing the ring .Or you might call the local lodge and ask if they might take her name and at the next lodge meeting they would let it be known that your grandmother has it to contact her ,I am sure that the brother whom lost it would be grateful.

reply to post by SSBIGDOG
Don't bother responding with any humanistic advice to this poster. He feels that he is the only person on earth who has had to scrape for food or shelter. I have also, but have risen above it and didnt let the experience destroy my morals or sense of common decency.
He must really need that 35 dollars more than any of us. If so then God Bless and I hope I get some of the same blessings. Best wishes to him....


[edit on 3/17/10 by scooterstrats]

I find your lack of ethics appalling.

Common. But appalling.