Somerset detectorist strikes gold with ‘spectacular’ Roman ring find

‘You’re a little dumbfounded, really,’ Minto said of the find. ‘One of the boys I was with was screaming: “We’re rich, we’re rich.”’ Photograph: South West Heritage Trust

When Kevin Minto, a lorry driver, former soldier and keen metal detectorist, came upon something glinting in a Somerset field, he thought at first it was a coin – potentially quite interesting, probably not amazing.

But the object turned out to be extraordinary: a gold Roman ring, unusually large and exquisitely crafted, set with a finely engraved gemstone depicting the goddess Victoria driving a two-horse chariot.