It's a unique ring in Britain—there's no other like it.
In a Somerset field already whispering with Roman coins, a retired veteran named Kevin Minto knelt in 2018 and lifted from the earth a gold ring that had waited seventeen centuries to be found. Weighing forty-eight grams and bearing the carved image of Victoria riding her chariot, the artifact speaks to a vanished world of wealth and uncertainty along the ancient Fosse Way. Acquired by the Southwest Heritage Trust for £78,010, the ring now travels between classrooms and museum halls, reminding us that history does not stay buried — it waits for the right hands to receive it.
- A single electronic chirp in a Somerset field set in motion a discovery that would take years to fully comprehend — a Roman gold ring unlike any other found in Britain.
- British treasure law immediately transformed a personal find into a public matter, triggering a formal coroner's inquiry, museum negotiations, and a careful division of proceeds between finder, landowner, and friend.
- Scholars scrambled to place the ring in its historical context — a period of regional upheaval between 286 and 296 AD — concluding it likely belonged to a wealthy Roman administrator who buried his valuables and never returned.
- After legal processes concluded, Minto walked away with just over £19,500 — enough to clear his mortgage — while the ring itself began a second life far more public than its first.
- Rather than resting immediately behind glass, the artifact is now held in the hands of schoolchildren who speculate aloud about its owner, collapsing seventeen hundred years of distance into a single afternoon.
- The ring's permanent home at Somerset Museum awaits, but its current journey through classrooms may prove its most meaningful chapter yet.
Kevin Minto was sixty-eight years old when his metal detector signaled something extraordinary beneath a Somerset field near Ilminster. He had already found Roman coins in that same stretch of earth the year before, and he kept returning — part of a group of retired military veterans who shared the quiet pleasure of searching. What he lifted from the soil in 2018 was a forty-eight-gram gold ring, its gemstone carved with the goddess Victoria riding a chariot drawn by two horses. He knew immediately it was significant, though he later admitted it took time for the reality to settle in.
Under British law, the find triggered a formal treasure process managed through the British Museum. A coroner's inquiry determined the ring qualified as treasure, and the Southwest Heritage Trust raised £78,010 to acquire both the ring and the earlier coins. The proceeds were split between Minto and the landowner; Minto then shared his half with his treasure-hunting partner, ultimately taking home just over £19,500 — enough to pay off his mortgage.
Senior curator Amal Khreisheh described the ring as unprecedented in Britain, likely belonging to a wealthy Roman administrator or landowner in southern Somerset. The region around 297 AD was prosperous but unsettled, and the ring was probably buried as part of a larger cache during a period of uncertainty — hidden carefully, and never reclaimed.
What has followed the discovery may matter as much as the discovery itself. The ring now visits local schools, where children hold it and speculate aloud about who wore it and why it was buried. Khreisheh watched one primary class examine the artifacts up close, their curiosity bridging seventeen centuries in a single afternoon. The ring will eventually settle into permanent display at Somerset Museum, but for now it belongs to the classroom — to the moment when history stops being abstract and becomes something a child can hold in both hands.
Kevin Minto was sixty-eight years old when he found it—a gold ring so perfectly preserved, so intricately worked, that it seemed to belong to another world entirely. He was walking through a field near Ilminster in Somerset, metal detector in hand, doing what he had done many times before: listening for the small electronic chirp that meant something old lay beneath his feet. The year was 2018. He had already found Roman coins in this same stretch of earth a year earlier, and he kept returning, part of a group of retired military veterans who shared the hobby of searching for buried treasure.
The ring itself was extraordinary—forty-eight grams of gold, heavy and substantial in the hand. Its centerpiece was a gemstone carved with the image of the goddess Victoria riding in a chariot drawn by two horses. The craftsmanship was flawless. Minto knew immediately that he had found something significant, though he said it took time for the reality to settle in. "It's the dream of every detectorist to find treasure," he would later tell CNN International, reflecting on the moment.
Under British law, metal detectorists must report their finds to local authorities, and a coroner conducts an inquiry to determine whether the discovery qualifies as "treasure." If it does, museums can petition to acquire the item for public benefit. The process is managed by the British Museum, and when a purchase is completed, the proceeds are typically split between the person who found it and the owner of the land. In Minto's case, the Southwest Heritage Trust raised £78,010—roughly equivalent to 532,000 Brazilian reais at current exchange rates—to acquire both the ring and the coins he had discovered. That money was divided equally between the landowner and Minto, who then shared his portion with the friend who had been his treasure-hunting partner. After all was settled, Minto took home just over £19,500, enough to pay off his mortgage.
Amal Khreisheh, senior curator at the South West Heritage Trust, described the ring as "spectacular" and "unprecedented" for Britain. She explained that the artifact likely belonged to someone of considerable wealth and status—perhaps a Roman administrator or a landowner with significant property in southern Somerset. The region during this period, roughly 286 to 296 AD, was experiencing upheaval, yet it remained prosperous. The Fosse Way, a major Roman road, passed through the area, bringing commerce and connection. Khreisheh believed the ring had been buried around 297 AD as part of a larger cache that included coins, lead objects, and pottery—perhaps hidden in haste or for safekeeping during uncertain times.
What makes this discovery particularly resonant is not just its rarity or monetary value, but what it has become since. The ring and coins are now traveling to local schools, held in the hands of children who study them with wonder. Khreisheh visited one primary school and watched as students examined the artifacts up close, speculating about who wore the ring and why it had been buried so carefully so many centuries ago. "The children really enjoyed being able to hold it and look at some of the coins in detail," she said. "They've been speculating about who wore it and why it was buried, which has been really lovely." Eventually, the ring will find its permanent home at the Somerset Museum, but for now it belongs to the classroom, to curiosity, to the moment when history becomes tangible.
Minto himself reflected on what draws people to metal detecting in the first place. "When you find something, your heart races," he said. "You never know what it is until you turn over the soil and find the item you've located." For him, the appeal was partly about disconnecting from everything else, about the simple pleasure of searching. But he also understood that he had been extraordinarily lucky. "It's a bit unbelievable," he said. "It wasn't until I went to the British Museum and saw everything laid out there with the coins that it really sank in. It's a unique ring in Britain—there's no other like it."
Citações Notáveis
It's the dream of every detectorist to find treasure.— Kevin Minto
The ring is so impressive that children really enjoyed being able to hold it and look at the coins in detail, and they've been speculating about who wore it and why it was buried.— Amal Khreisheh, senior curator at South West Heritage Trust
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What made Minto keep returning to that same field, year after year?
He was part of a group of retired military veterans who did this together. Once he found those Roman coins, he knew the ground held more. It's not just about the money—it's the mystery. You're listening for a beep, and you don't know if it's a bottle cap or something that's been buried for two thousand years.
The ring was buried around 297 AD. Do we know why someone would bury something so valuable?
The curator thinks it was likely hidden during a period of instability in the region, between 286 and 296 AD. Someone wealthy—probably a landowner or administrator—may have buried it for safekeeping and never came back for it. We'll never know for certain.
Minto made about £19,500 from this discovery. Does that feel like enough for finding something irreplaceable?
He paid off his mortgage with it. For a truck driver and former soldier, that's significant. But he also shared his portion with his treasure-hunting partner. The real value, though, seems to be something else—the fact that it's now in children's hands, that they're holding it and asking questions about the past.
Why is the ring being shown to schoolchildren before it goes to the museum?
Because an artifact is only truly alive when it connects people to history. A child holding a two-thousand-year-old ring and wondering who wore it—that's not just education. That's the past becoming real.