Bonnie Prince Charlie ring fetches £12,200

Published on Wednesday 13 February 2008 12:10

AN 18th century Jacobite ring used by Bonnie Prince Charlie to pass on secret messages was auctioned for £12,200 today.

The jewellery fetched more than four times its estimated value when it went under the hammer in Edinburgh.

The silver ring with an emerald stone was used to indicate that a messenger was carrying official documents from the prince.

Experts had valued it at 3,000.

Colin Fraser, a silver specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, said: "We are very pleased with the result and we had bids from across the country.

"The ring was bought by an anonymous private collector. However, I can confirm that it will stay in Scotland."

The ring bears the inscription CRIII 1766.

After his father's death in 1766, Bonnie Prince Charlie considered himself the rightful king of Scotland and gave himself the title King Charles III.

The ring was sold by a private owner who obtained it from a museum in Montrose, Angus.

The hammer price did not include the buyer's premium of 20%.

Philip Gregory, of Lyon & Turnbull, said the messengers could have been women, as the ring was a small size.

"I suppose a lady of high repute would be less likely to be stopped than a man travelling at speed on a horse," he added.