Ring found on Chesil Beach sells for £16,730

[Neil]

A MEDIEVAL ring found on a Dorset beach sold at auction for nearly £15,000 above its estimate.

The gold ring, which bore a seal and Latin inscription to the Virgin Mary, was discovered washed up on Chesil Beach in the mid 1920s. It went under the hammer at Dukes in Dorchester and sold for £16,730 – well above its estimated price of £2,000.

Valuer Andrew Marlborough said: “When you get something very rare sometimes these things happen.”

He added: “The ring is very unusual.

“Most of the rings of the type are silver or bronze.

“A gold ring of this quality is unusual.”

The seller’s grandfather found the ring and it was on show in the Dorset County Museum from 1986 to 1991.

The ring – thought to have belonged to a merchant – has a seal on the front with a cross which would have been dipped in wax to seal documents.

Mr Marlborough said that it was possible that the ring came from a shipwreck and washed up on Chesil.

He added that the ring could be from the Continent but is more likely to be English.

It could be from as early as 1450 but probably pre-dates the Reformation of the 16th century.

Its Latin inscription to the Virgin Mary shows that the country was likely to still have been Catholic when it was made.

Dukes said that many collectors and specialist dealers were interested in the ring.

Bidding began in the lower thousands and quickly reached five-figures before eventually selling to a telephone bidding thought to be a specialist collector or trade dealer.

[Napoleon]

   thats a beauty , j aime this ring   16 k thats a good bonus ,you never know what is near us .