The Prophet Joseph's ring dates from the Nauvoo Period and is believed to be the ring he used in the April 1844 King Follett sermon to illustrate the eternal nature of man. Joseph stated, "I take my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man-the immortal part, because it has no beginning. Suppose you cut it in two; then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and it continues one eternal round. So with the spirit of man." Sometime after the Prophet's martyrdom in 1844, Emma Smith gave the ring to Alexander Hale Smith, one of their sons. The ring appears on Joseph's hand in several paintings done in his lifetime. Today the ring is privately owned. Joseph Smith's signature on the inside of the ring is an added designer's element. This reproduction is a high quality replica of the original.