Only when I saw it displayed did I really realize—it's unique.
From a Somerset field, a gold ring nearly two millennia old has surfaced to remind us that the past is never fully buried — only waiting. Dated to around 297 AD and engraved with the Roman goddess Victoria riding a chariot, the ring is the only known example of its kind in Britain, a singular object that once adorned someone of wealth and influence during a time of imperial uncertainty. Acquired by the South West Heritage Trust for £78,010, it now passes from the hands of a fortunate detectorist into the custody of public memory, where schoolchildren hold it and wonder about the life it once touched.
- A metal detectorist's routine sweep of a Somerset field yielded a Roman gold ring so rare that no comparable example exists anywhere else in Britain.
- The ring's survival — buried alongside coins, lead, and pottery around 297 AD — hints at a moment of crisis, when someone wealthy enough to own such an object felt compelled to hide it.
- A bidding process raised £78,010 to secure the artifact for the South West Heritage Trust, with the reward split between the finder, his detecting partner, and the landowner.
- The finder only truly grasped the magnitude of his discovery when he stood in the British Museum and saw the ring displayed — a moment of delayed, quiet astonishment.
- Rather than moving directly to permanent display, the ring is first traveling to primary schools, where children hold it and begin asking questions across nearly two thousand years of silence.
A metal detectorist named Minto was sweeping a Somerset field when he unearthed a gold ring carved with the image of Victoria — the Roman goddess of victory — standing in a chariot drawn by two horses. It was, as experts would confirm, the only ring of its kind ever found in Britain. He split his share of the £78,010 acquisition reward with the friend who had been hunting alongside him that day, and his remaining portion — just over £19,500 — was enough to make a dent in his mortgage. But the moment only became real when he visited the British Museum and saw the ring laid out beside the coins found nearby. "It's a bit unbelievable," he said.
The ring dates to around 297 AD, a period of instability in Roman Britain, and was likely buried as part of a hoard shortly after that year. Senior curator Amal Khreisheh described it as spectacular — an object that almost certainly belonged to someone of considerable wealth, perhaps a local administrator or the owner of agricultural estates in southern Somerset, a region then crisscrossed by the Fosse Way and rich with villas and trade.
Before the ring reaches its permanent home at the Somerset Museum, it is making a different kind of journey — into primary school classrooms, where children have been holding it, turning it over, and wondering aloud about the person who once wore it. Khreisheh watched them speculate about a life separated from theirs by nearly two thousand years. "It was really enchanting," she said.
A metal detectorist working a field in Somerset found something that stopped his heart. Buried in the earth was a gold ring, its stone carved with the image of Victoria—the Roman goddess of victory—standing in a chariot drawn by two horses. It was, as far as anyone could determine, the only ring of its kind ever discovered in Britain.
The finder, a man named Minto, had split his share of the reward with the friend who hunted alongside him that day. After the South West Heritage Trust raised £78,010 to acquire the ring and the coins found nearby, the money was divided equally between Minto and the landowner. His half, minus what he gave his partner, still came to just over £19,500—enough to pay down his mortgage and enough to make the moment feel real only when he stood in the British Museum and saw the ring displayed alongside the coins. "It's a bit unbelievable," he said. "Only when I went to the British Museum and saw it all laid out with the coins did I really realize. It's a unique ring from Britain—there isn't another one like it."
For Minto, the appeal of metal detecting lay partly in the escape it offered. "When you find something, your heart races," he explained. "You never know what it is until you turn over the earth and find the object you've been searching for." That uncertainty, that moment of discovery, was the draw.
The ring dates to around 297 AD, a time when Roman Britain was navigating instability. Amal Khreisheh, senior curator at the South West Heritage Trust, described it as spectacular—likely buried shortly after 297 as part of a hoard that included coins, lead, and pottery. The ring almost certainly belonged to someone of considerable wealth and standing, perhaps someone involved in local administration or the ownership of agricultural estates in southern Somerset. That region was prosperous in the Roman period, crisscrossed by the Fosse Way and dotted with villas and farms that generated significant trade.
The discovery offers a window into how the wealthy inhabitants of Roman Somerset lived during those uncertain years. Khreisheh noted that the ring and coins would eventually be displayed at the Somerset Museum, but first they were being shown to schoolchildren as part of a community engagement program. After visiting a primary school, she observed that the children were captivated. They held the ring, examined the coins in detail, and began to wonder aloud about who wore it and why it had been buried. "It was really enchanting," she said, watching them speculate about a person they would never know, separated from them by nearly two thousand years.
Notable Quotes
It's a unique ring from Britain—there isn't another one like it.— Minto, the metal detectorist who discovered the ring
We believe it belonged to someone rich, perhaps involved in local administration or someone who owned an agricultural property in southern Somerset, which was a quite wealthy area at that time.— Amal Khreisheh, senior curator at the South West Heritage Trust
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What made this ring so extraordinary that it warranted such a significant acquisition cost?
It's the engraving itself—Victoria in her chariot. That specific image, on a gold ring, has never been found in Britain before. It's not just old; it's unique in the archaeological record here.
Do we know why someone would bury it?
The timing suggests panic. It was likely buried around 297 AD, during a period of real instability in Roman Britain. If you were wealthy and frightened, you might hide your most precious things in the earth, hoping to retrieve them later.
And did they come back for it?
No. It stayed buried for nearly seventeen centuries until a man with a metal detector found it by chance. That's what makes it so intact—no one ever dug it up.
What does it tell us about the person who owned it?
They were rich, certainly. Probably involved in local governance or owned significant agricultural land. Southern Somerset was prosperous—the Fosse Way ran through it, trade was active. This wasn't a poor farmer's ring.
Why show it to schoolchildren?
Because it makes history tangible. When a child holds a two-thousand-year-old ring and asks who wore it, they're asking a real question. They're connecting to a person across time. That's what good museums do.