Detector ring sells for £25,000
A 15th-century gold ring dug up by a metal detectorist in North Yorkshire has sold for £25,000 at auction.
The ornate ring, with a single diamond, was sold by the man who uncovered it in the Vale of York under the Hambleton Hills, between Northallerton and Easingwold. Having established through a treasure trove inquest the British Museum did not want to claim it, he was free to sell it.
Yesterday it went under the hammer at Christie's in London, which had estimated it would fetch between 3,000 and 5,000. The auction house said last night the finder was "a very happy man" but it did not have permission to name either him or the buyer.
Christie's said: "The ring dates from the time of the Wars of the Roses. For this period it is unusual to see the use of an un-cut diamond crystal - more commonly seen in earlier rings."