May 12th 2024.
Chris Weir was overjoyed when he stumbled upon a valuable medieval ring during one of his metal detecting trips. What made the discovery even more special was the fact that his wife, Lisa, had finally agreed to join him for the first time.
According to Chris, Lisa was his "lucky charm" that day as they explored the fields near Drayton in Oxfordshire. Metal detecting had become a hobby for Chris to relieve stress, especially during the time when Lisa was undergoing a double lung transplant eight years ago. However, Lisa had always thought of it as a dull pastime and had never joined Chris on his expeditions. But on that particular day, she decided to accompany him to a rally.
As Chris went about detecting in the morning, Lisa sat in the back of their truck and watched. Unfortunately, the morning turned out to be quite uneventful, with Chris only finding the usual cans and bottle tops. He was about to give up for the day, but Lisa encouraged him to keep going, saying they hadn't driven all the way from Bristol for him to come back empty-handed.
Chris continued his search, and after an hour, he got a signal near a path where no one else seemed to have gone. He dug down about 2 inches and saw a glint of gold. Despite being used to the disappointment of finding only trash, this time, Chris knew he had something special in his hands. He ran back to the truck, 50 yards away, and showed Lisa his find. She was amazed and said, "Wow, that's nice."
Chris then called his detecting buddy, Darren Hamilton-Welsman, who couldn't join them that day due to his battle with prostate cancer. The 13th century ring had a bezel that developed into a pyramid, a sapphire gemstone, and an inscription of letters on the outside. It was later classified as "treasure," which meant that museums could claim it. However, as no one did, it was returned to Chris.
He plans to sell the ring at an auction in Essex and split the proceeds 50/50 with the landowner, as required by law. Chris jokingly compared Lisa to the woman on the TV show, "The Detectorists," who initially thought metal detecting was silly. But on that day, she proved to be his lucky charm.
Chris plans to buy Lisa a gift with the money from the ring's sale and maybe even get himself a new detector. A spokesperson from the auction house mentioned that many medieval rings and brooches have meaningless inscriptions, possibly due to the engraver's illiteracy. However, they could also be used as chants or magical charms.
In a similar incident, a novice treasure hunter, Mickey Richardson, who had won a metal detector in a raffle, found £23,000 worth of historic silver coins in a field in Dorset. The coins were believed to have been buried during the English Civil War in 1644. It just goes to show that sometimes, luck is all you need to find something valuable.
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