He hid a Celtic chieftain's ring worth £30,000 in a cupboard

For nearly thirty years, a collector hid a rare Celtic chieftain's ring in a cupboard, which was discovered in Yorkshire by a prospector with a metal detector. The jewel dates from around 100 BC. The collector is likely to come into a nice chunk of change. Experts say the jewel is worth around £30,000.

A metal detectorist found the ring in a field near Knaresborough (a market and spa town in North Yorkshire) in 1994. The jewel was subsequently bought by a collector who hid it in a cupboard where it was hidden until this year. The object was not declared a treasure by the relevant coroner in 1994, so the finder was free to sell it at his discretion. Which he did, but only made a few hundred pounds.

If he had known at the time how much the new owner would be able to sell it for in the future, he would probably have changed his mind. After all, a collector can get up to around £30,000 for a piece of jewellery, which is a hefty sum. It will be sold at auction.

Experts say the ring dates from around 100 BC and belonged to the Celtic chieftain Corieltauvi, who ruled what is now Yorkshire. The capital of this tribe was Ratae Corieltauvorum, or Leicester today. In the early first century BC they minted their own coins, which have been discovered, for example, as part of the so-called Hallaton Hoard.

We wrote about it here: The Halloton Hoard

The current owner of the ring is a 66-year-old man who wished to remain anonymous. He had the ring valued so that his children would not have to worry about it after his death. He entrusted the jewel to experts from the British Museum, who valued the ring at £30,000, which the owner absolutely did not expect.

The ring will be offered for sale by Noonans auction house. According to local experts, it is a unique piece of jewellery, because there are not many such pieces. The ring is believed to have been made in a gold workshop in Snettisham, Norfolk, where a similar treasure was found in 1948.

"It is the most exciting ring I have had the pleasure of examining and was probably worn by an Iron Age chieftain of the Corieltauvi tribe who inhabited Yorkshire in their time," said Nigel Mills, a consultant to the auction house.

Sources: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk, www.bbc.com