Mark Sell, a 63-year-old retiree from Swaffham, Norfolk, traded his firefighter’s helmet for a metal detector. His latest treasure-hunting adventure took him to Shibdam, a historic Norman Conquest settlement in Norfolk.
His metal detector suddenly sprang to life as he trudged through muddy fields. Digging about nine inches into the earth, he unearthed something extraordinary.
Glinting through the muck was a stunning gold ring featuring a large sapphire centerpiece surrounded by four emeralds and garnets—a true buried treasure.
Being a responsible treasure hunter, Sell reported his find to the British Museum’s Finds Liaison Officer (FLO), who identifies and records such discoveries.
According to the Daily Mail on Monday, experts believe the ring once belonged to a medieval bishop and could fetch up to £18,000 (about $23,400) at auction.
Sell told the Daily Mail he had been to that spot twice before and found nothing. On that day, after hours of detecting with his buddy, they struck treasure just as they were about to give up.
The equipment he used was the XP Deus, a top-of-the-line metal detector.
“I was amazed to see a thin line of gold in the clod of mud that I had dug up, and as I wiped away the mud, I could see the bezel of a medieval gold jewelled ring,” he said.
Sell plans to auction the ring through Noonans in London’s upscale Mayfair district and split the proceeds with the landowner.
Experts at Noonans believe the ring resembles one owned by Walter de Gray, a powerful Archbishop of York. De Gray’s ring is currently on display at York Minster.
Since a 13th-century bishop’s residence once stood in Shibdam, experts suspect Sell’s ring may have belonged to another high-ranking cleric.
Noonans’ resident gem specialist, Laura Smith, explained, “This form of medieval ring, with a principal cabochon stone, usually a sapphire, surrounded by smaller collet set satellite stones (garnets or rubies, and emeralds), can be securely dated to the late 12th or early 13th century and is associated with the bishopric.”
Sell isn’t the only amateur treasure hunter to strike gold in the UK. In 2018, a young detectorist, Adam Day, discovered a 20-carat gold ring in Yorkshire, estimated to be worth around $12,400.
