An AMATEUR treasure hunter has unearthed what could be the precious jewel-encrusted gold ring of a medieval nobleman.
The ring was found by John Stevens, 42, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, when he was metal detecting in a field with friends.
The ring may contain a rare black diamond, and an inscription on it suggests the original owner was important.
Mr Steven
s took his find to antiquities expert Brett Hammond, from Time Line Originals, for inspection.
Mr Hammond said today: "About five weeks ago a gentleman found an extraordinary ring with a pyramidal stone still in situ which is very unusual.
"He came to me for advice and I arranged for him to take it to the portable antiquities officer at his local metal detectors club.
"The ring dates back to the 14th century.
"It's quite unusual for a ring, after all this time, to still have the original stone in it."
Mr Hammond said it was possible the stone was a rare black diamond but that was not yet confirmed.
He said: "This ring has got an inscription on it. It's an important piece and would have been owned by someone quite wealthy in the church or even royalty.
"I have never had anyone bring or show me anything like that before.
"We have a lot of medieval rings, I have seen quite a lot and it's one of the best ones I have seen for a very long time."
Mr Hammond said an inquest would probably be held for the ring, and when its value was determined the finder would have to share the reward with the owner of the land he found it on.
He said he could not speculate on the value of the ring but said it would be worth "a lot of money".
Mr Stevens described how he got a good signal just as friends he was with had switched off their detectors and were going back to their cars.
He told the Daily Mail: "The others grouped round me as I dropped to my knees and dug to a depth of about five inches, then pulled out a clod of damp soil. From the side of it I could see gold.
"Then I heard a chorus of 'lucky sod' and 'jammy beggar'. We all realised at once that I was clutching a ring that looked at first glance like medieval gold, with what could be a black diamond.
"I don't know yet what the letters spell out, but if they indicate a royal owner it might be worth tens of thousand of pounds."
The full article contains 435 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
