# So do I hock my wedding ring? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844 "2010-08-29T00:57:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/41 "2010-08-31T18:56:49Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Keep the albums and other items stuck in a box in the back of a closet somewhere. You may never look at them again, but your children or grandchildren may someday appreciate having them. I’d like to echo this for anyone with kids (I see that the OP has none). I’m the child of a divorced couple, and I’m very glad to have those old photo albums. By all accounts, my parent’s marriage was brief and not particularly good, but it resulted in me, and their wedding album is my history. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/42 "2010-08-31T19:09:57Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > … > > As far as changing your name back to your maiden name, make sure that clause is in the divorce agreement. I did, and toted the divorce papers to all the necessary agencies (Social Security, drivers’ license bureau). Yes, they did check the papers to make sure it was AOK. My friend did not have the clause in her divorce agreement and had to pay legal fees later to change back to her maiden name. Useful info - thanks for sharing. Seriously, though, don’t permanently destroy photos. They carry a totally different meaning and significance fifty years later. The love between those two people might have long ago evaporated, but that photo could eventually be someone’s only link to them… ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/43 "2010-09-01T12:05:54Z")
When I got divorced, I had to take my ring to the steps of Mt. Doom and \*cast it back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. \* I feel much better now. ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/44 "2010-09-01T13:17:29Z")
I suppose it’s different for me, as I have children, so I’ve saved the ring for one of them. Likewise I have all of the pictures for them to copy and divide one day. The divorce was sad anyhow and there wasn’t a lot of anger at the time, but my sadness increased when the ex suddenly passed away last year. Now it would feel like sacrilege to throw those kinds of things away. I did shred every card and note he’d written me though. My now-husband threw his old wedding band into the trash at work. I often wonder if any custodial staff found it. It was probably worth a few hundred dollars. I kind of hope someone did find it and got some value from it. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/45 "2010-09-01T16:42:15Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > When I got divorced, I had to take my ring to the steps of Mt. Doom and \*cast it back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. > \* > I feel much better now. I specifically looked for a reference to that in this thread yesterday. I’m surprised it took this long for someone to write one. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/46 "2010-09-01T18:28:46Z")
I pawned mine for $50 and used the proceeds to hire a hooker. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/47 "2010-09-01T18:32:22Z")
Ah yes, $50 hookers. Why settle for a ring when instead you could contract a charming venereal disease? De Beers ain’t got shit on herpes. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/48 "2010-09-01T18:46:06Z")
My brother buried his in the backyard of the house he got when they got married because she liked it the best even though our parents said the house was crappy. When they divorced, she took off because the mortgage wasn’t in her name and my brother had to live there for a couple more years before it sold. So it was symbolic - the ring and the house, the biggest ties to her, gone in a single day. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa\_Ann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lisa\_Ann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa_Ann)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/49 "2010-09-02T02:34:00Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I traded in my wedding ring for a new used microwave. > > True story, though it really should be a country song. When I first met Mr. Future Asshole-Ex, I traded a ruby ring from an old boyfriend for a microwave to set-up housekeeping. Ah, the irony. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/50 "2010-09-02T18:38:50Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Ah yes, $50 hookers. Why settle for a ring when instead you could contract a charming venereal disease? > > De Beers ain’t got shit on herpes. How else can two months salary last forever? Herpes. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/51 "2010-09-02T18:59:51Z")
If you’re spending two months’ salary to get the herp off a hooker, you ain’t doin’ it right. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/52 "2010-09-02T19:07:44Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > If you’re spending two months’ salary to get the herp off a hooker, you ain’t doin’ it right. Don’t judge me! ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844/53 "2010-09-02T19:14:32Z")
Sold to a jeweler for a few bucks, used it to (help) pay down the accumulated debt load. Never was sorry, even for the lousy price I got. Move on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-do-i-hock-my-wedding-ring/551844.md?page=2)