17th Century High Karat Gold IHS Signet Ring

17th century 'IHS' signet ring, in high karat gold. The sacred monogram 'IHS' engraved on the front. 

Rather, IHS is a Christogram – a combination of letters that represent the holy name “Jesus.” Early scribes would abbreviate the sacred names of Jesus by using the first two letters of the name, or the first and last letters, with a line over the letters. For example, the Greek letters Chi-Rho (which looks like our English X and P) was an abbreviation for the name “Christ.” Likewise, I (iota) and H (eta) are the first two Greek letters for “Jesus.” Sometime in the second century, the third letter, S (sigma), was added, thereby rendering IHS. These Christograms, such as XP or IHS, served as secret codes, whereby inscribed on a tomb, they indicated a deceased Christian, or on a doorpost, a Christian home.

In original condition.

Size 8, can be resized but we don't not recommend.