Found: Wedding Ring

Responsibility = check (two weeks on Craigslist with only one response identifying it to have diamonds = wrong).

Emotional baggage = check (see above photograph).

Solicited advice from anyone who would listen = check.

Best advice received from Pat (below):

a few things to dwell upon....

this sounds like a premise for a body of work on your part, as gold comes with its own baggage, aside from your personal baggage.for one thing, any gold you have in your possession must, by the laws of probability and of history, have molecules of gold melted down from the whole world's treasures and possessions, ancient and modern.  therefore, a gold ring contains bits from the various pharoah's melted treasures, plus  the many artifacts of the ancient, medieval and modern world that were melted down time and time again. Gold is the one material that seems to be infinitely recyclable.  You are getting your gold back, the same mix of gold your wedding ring was made from.   

so whatever emotional baggage the found ring seems to possess, that very gold - cold, incorruptible, neutral - has had a billion tears of gratitude and sorrow shed over it by countless human beings.  The tragedy / loss of the particular ring now in your possession, whether it was an unfortunate accident or a deliberate act of ridding oneself of an intolerable burden, was one of many lost and found moments for the gold.  It is now yours. 

Pawned = check.
In the name of Art = fast forward to 2015 when I spend the $45 en route to the Gold Coast.