Somerset detectorist strikes gold with ‘spectacular’ Roman ring find

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. “It’s hard to explain what if feels like when you find something like that,” Minto said. “It was like being hit by an express train. At first I thought it was a coin, then a brooch, and then realised it was a ring. You’re a little dumbfounded, really. One of the boys I was with was screaming: ‘We’re rich, we’re rich.’” On Tuesday the South West Heritage Trust announced it had acquired the ring, along with a hoard of 297 Roman coins also found at the site near Ilminster, for £78,000, meaning they will remain in Somerset. Minto took up detecting as a way to keep fit. Photograph: Kevin Minto “I’m chuffed it’s staying,” said Minto, 68, who settled in Wiltshire after leaving the army and took up detecting as a way of keeping fit. “That seems right to me, somehow.” He said the landowner got half of the money. Minto split his half with a metal detecting friend he worked with on the find. He was able to pay his mortgage off and has cut down his lorry driving to four days a week. He may go to three next year. Minto first found Roman coins at the site in 2017. …