Posted on 12/20/2018 2:52:45 AM PST by csvset
A silver medieval ring thought to be up to 600 years old has been unearthed by a man who took up metal detecting after watching a TV sitcom.
The gold-gilded ring was found by Gordon Graham in a field in the north of the Isle of Man.
Archaeologists believe the piece, which is engraved with geometric shapes, dates from between 1400 and 1500 AD.
An inquest hearing at Douglas Courthouse declared the ring can be officially classed as treasure.
Allison Fox, a curator of archaeology at Manx National Heritage, said it may date back to the time when the first Manx laws were written, in the 1400s.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
GGG ring ping. A little find, but a huge find for the hobbyist.
My precious!
All I found were some pull tabs and nails.
The TV show is probably the English show “The Detectorists”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4082744/
Fun, goofy show. Took awhile to get used to the humor (very subtle, awkward, quirky) and it has some sad and sweet moments. I ended up really enjoying it. Of course it ended too soon (three seasons).
By the way, before everyone gets riled up for the guy turning it in to the authorities. In England, if they determine it has no historical value you can keep it. If it DOES have historical value, they will pay you the fair price for the stuff. This encourages detectorists, and further’s the history and knowledge. The detectorist usually makes a contract with the landowner first regarding what percentage split they will take if private land. Not sure about public land.
Ssshhh !!
BB’s tossed around up & down the beach keeps em busy
If declared treasure, the item belongs to the crown and the finder is rewarded.
The ring was due to go on display at the Manx Museum from Saturday.
Such a deal,maybe not tell any one and move to the States,breach “The Wall” or something and sell it there ??
It took me awhile to get into it, too. English humor is different.
...There are some hard core types that do the surf down at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. They wade out and “look” underwater...
Beaches are great places to prospect for gold & silver. Beach water a little cooler than body temperature, suntan lotion, & alcohol don’t mix & cause jewelry to come flying off.
With a good underwater metal detector such as a Minelab Excalibur and some persistence, you can find some great Stuff there.
The goal for metal and relic hunters isn't the gold, but the surprises and good works
. In August, the group got an email from a desperate bride-to-be. The woman had lost her $27,000 platinum, diamond engagement ring in the water off of First Landing State Park. The group got permission to search, which is mandatory with state parks. They created a schedule of volunteer searchers who had waterproof detectors. The ring was found on the third day of searching.
That’s a lot of money for an engagement ring. My wife is allergic to jewelry. One of the happiest accidents of my life.
“Ancient” ... “600 years old”
This word... I do not think it means... what you think it means.
I'll just say 'interesting' and leave it at that.
When I was in Egypt some kids were selling small artifacts they had discovered off a road we traveled. It is a huge deal, very illegal, to sell antiquities in Egypt.
We looked at their items and asked them if they could get in trouble for selling antiquities. They said, “NO! Not old! Only 500 years!”
We didn’t buy them as we didn’t; A) Want to inhabit an Egyptian prison and B) we couldn’t be sure they weren’t made yesterday.
Evidently in many places there you can find, “ancient” items quite readily.
We live in Virginia and our Iowa relatives are blown away by our, “ancient” colonial history when they visit. Of course they are also amazed by our many trees. Everything is relative I suppose.
Why the picture of snakehead Jamws Carville?
The finder, Gordon Graham.
"What has it got in its nasty little pocketses?"
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