£8k Medieval posy ring to be offered at Noonans sale

A Medieval gold posy ring, dating from the 13th or 14th Century, will be offered at Noonans Mayfair and is estimated to fetch £6,000-8,000.

The ring was discovered by Richard Girling metal detectorist in Merton, near Thetford in Norfolk in March 2024.

The ring was subsequently disclaimed as treasure and Mr Girling will share the proceeds with the landowner.

It will be included in a sale of Jewellery, Silver and Objects of Vertu on Wednesday, 26 March 2025 at 12pm.

Girling said: I began metal detecting when I was 16-years old and as a child I was fascinated by gold and silver shops and anything that glistened such as rocks and crystals. Then I had a C-scope, now I have a Deus 2!”

“On the day I found the ring, the ground was very wet, and I was aching from walking all day around the field that I have visited many times. I got a signal in one patch of the field; the soil was very black, maybe where a pond used to be, so I dug down three inches and found a gold ring – I didn’t do the dance like some people do but wow, I was very pleased with the ring, it was beautiful.”

Laura Smith, jewellery expert at Noonans, added: “Romance and jewellery have always been closely entwined, and during the medieval period it became popular to inscribe a short love message or ‘posy’ on a gold ring to be given to your beloved. The intimacy is enhanced by the fact the message is worn right next to the skin and is really just for the wearer to behold.”

This delightful posy ring is inscribed to the exterior in a mixture of Roman and Lombardic forms, reading: ‘+IO.VVS.AIM.PAR.FEI’ translating from Medieval French as ‘I love you by faith’ or ‘I love you faithfully’.”