Medieval Gold Ring Found by Detectorists Expected to Fetch £10,000 at Auction

Two metal detectorists in Suffolk, England, are set to auction a 14th-century gold ring discovered in April 2024, with an expected sale price of £10,000. Aaron Pizzey, 30, and James Race, 39, found the artifact in a ploughed field near Stoke Ash.

The discovery came after a morning of fruitless searching, with Pizzey nearly abandoning the effort due to a malfunctioning headset. "That morning had proved fruitless on the first two fields we had searched, so we tried one more field," Pizzey stated. "I had a faulty headset and was about to throw it into the hedge when Jim said: 'It's a good omen, you'll find gold.'"

Just moments later, Pizzey's detector signaled a find. "Digging down I saw in a clod of earth the colour of gold," he recounted. "'Gold!' I shouted to Jim who ignored me thinking it was a joke. Then he saw me waving and holding the seal [ring] with a big grin on my face."

The friends reported the find to the local finds liaison officer. The ring, a medieval gold seal ring, is expected to sell for approximately £10,000 at auction. It features a carnelian intaglio engraved with a Griffin, set in an oval bezel inscribed with Lombardic script that may translate to "griffin Matilda the maternal countess."

Experts at Noonans Mayfair suggest the ring could potentially have belonged to Matilda of Lancaster, Countess of Ulster, a descendant of King Henry III. This connection is considered a possibility rather than a confirmed attribution. Matilda of Lancaster became a canoness at Campsey Priory, located approximately 20 miles from where the ring was discovered.

Pizzey, an engineering lecturer, and Race, a product development engineer, will share the proceeds from the sale with the landowner. They plan to use their share to purchase a new metal detector and for home renovations.