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Bronze Member
Coventry metal detector discovers medieval gold ring
May 6 2008 By Barbara Goulden
METAL detecting enthusiast Wayne Burton could hardly contain his excitement when he discovered a romantic medieval gold ring.
He was so taken by it he had a perfect copy made for wife, Jane.
The English posy ring, which is engraved with the French words Mon Cuer Avez - Have My Heart, dates back to the 15th century and has officially been declared Treasure Trove belonging to the Crown.
It means the history buff from Coventry will have to wait and see where the ring - found in Leicestershire - ends up.
He explained: "The British Museum experts are now valuing the ring, and it seems likely a museum in Leicester will want to buy it to put on show.
"If that happens then I might get about £900 to divide with the owner of the land where it lay for all those years."
The ring is only one of a host of objects found by 41-year-old Wayne, of Pearson Avenue, Alderman's Green, Coventry.
His long-suffering wife looks after their youngest son William, aged three, while he trawls the fields, then spends hours on the internet researching his own and everybody else's finds.
But while 40-year-old Jane occasionally dreams that he will make their fortune, Wayne, who works at the Triumph Motorcycles factory, admits: "Nobody really does metal detecting for the money.
"For me the real thrill is putting your hand on history. When the detector bleeps and I get out my spade and uncover something that was dropped during the reign of King Edward II in the fourteenth century or George III in the eighteenth, it's an amazing feeling."
In the past he has uncovered brooches, buttons and coins from most centuries, including a Roman one featuring an eagle perched on a thunderbolt which dates back to 105 BC!
"The rules on Treasure Trove say that you only need to declare coins if two or more are found together," explains Wayne, who is a keen member of the Hinckley Search Society.
However, society members take care to record all finds to officials in the counties where they are discovered.
Wayne usually confines his searches to Leicestershire and Warwickshire - where he is still waiting for a coroner's report on part of a filigree gold chain discovered in the north of the county.
kenb
May 6 2008 By Barbara Goulden
METAL detecting enthusiast Wayne Burton could hardly contain his excitement when he discovered a romantic medieval gold ring.
He was so taken by it he had a perfect copy made for wife, Jane.
The English posy ring, which is engraved with the French words Mon Cuer Avez - Have My Heart, dates back to the 15th century and has officially been declared Treasure Trove belonging to the Crown.
It means the history buff from Coventry will have to wait and see where the ring - found in Leicestershire - ends up.
He explained: "The British Museum experts are now valuing the ring, and it seems likely a museum in Leicester will want to buy it to put on show.
"If that happens then I might get about £900 to divide with the owner of the land where it lay for all those years."
The ring is only one of a host of objects found by 41-year-old Wayne, of Pearson Avenue, Alderman's Green, Coventry.
His long-suffering wife looks after their youngest son William, aged three, while he trawls the fields, then spends hours on the internet researching his own and everybody else's finds.
But while 40-year-old Jane occasionally dreams that he will make their fortune, Wayne, who works at the Triumph Motorcycles factory, admits: "Nobody really does metal detecting for the money.
"For me the real thrill is putting your hand on history. When the detector bleeps and I get out my spade and uncover something that was dropped during the reign of King Edward II in the fourteenth century or George III in the eighteenth, it's an amazing feeling."
In the past he has uncovered brooches, buttons and coins from most centuries, including a Roman one featuring an eagle perched on a thunderbolt which dates back to 105 BC!
"The rules on Treasure Trove say that you only need to declare coins if two or more are found together," explains Wayne, who is a keen member of the Hinckley Search Society.
However, society members take care to record all finds to officials in the counties where they are discovered.
Wayne usually confines his searches to Leicestershire and Warwickshire - where he is still waiting for a coroner's report on part of a filigree gold chain discovered in the north of the county.
kenb
