Buried ‘sweet wrapper’ was actually medieval ring worth over $35,000, UK experts say
Searching a field with a metal detector, a U.K. man initially thought he found a candy wrapper — but he discovered something far more valuable.
David Board, 69, picked up a metal detector and began searching a field in Thorncombe, Dorset, in 2019, he told CNN in a Nov. 18 interview. On his second day of searching, Board was about to give up when he got a signal near a walking path.
Initially, Board thought he had found a “sweet wrapper” but, looking closer, realized the buried metal was a ring, according to a Nov. 14 news release from Noonans, a U.K. auction house.
The golden ring — now called the Lady Brook Medieval diamond ring — dates to medieval times, experts said. Based on where the ring was found and its “exceptionally fine quality,” experts think this may be the wedding ring that Sir Thomas Brook gave to his wife Lady Joan Brook when they got married in 1388.
The ring is “almost” in “perfect condition,” Nigel Mills, a Noonans coins and antiquities consultant, said in the release. The ring “has an inverted diamond” that “comes to a point. The hoop is composed of two neatly entwined bands symbolizing the union of the couple.”
Inside the ring, a French inscription reads “I hold your faith, hold mine,” Mills said.
To Board, the ring is a “once-in-a-lifetime” find, he told CNN.
“There will probably never be another one like it. Back then, each ring was individual and unique, not mass produced like today,” he said, according to CNN. “It’s stunning.”
The ring is expected to sell for anywhere from $35,500 to $47,300 when it goes on auction by Mayfair Auctioneers Noonans on Tuesday, Nov. 29, the release said.
Thorncombe is about 140 miles southwest of London.
