Roman Villa Site producing Bronze, Silver and Gold

Westfront · Apr 14, 2013

Roman Villa Site producing Bronze, Silver and 1700 year old Roman Gold Ring

Today i went back to the Villa Site where i found the Wolfhead Pendant. It was plowed yesterday and i had time till 5.00pm today. I was detecting the field while the farmer was planting potatoes... :tongue3:

It was well worth the effort. Still have to dig nails, the site is far from being clean. So lots of nails, lead, some scrappies, one Denarius, a beautiful condition Dupondius(?) (not identified yet), found on the last row for the day and as nearly the last signal 20 metres from the truck the golden Ring. :hello2:

Other finds were a french Regimental button, roman sandal nail, roman bronze nails, one decorated, a first for me. :icon_thumright:

I talked a bit to the farmer, thanked him for his cooperation, showed the finds from the day and was invited to come back after harvest.
Here are the pics:

jewelerguy · Apr 16, 2013

WOW that ring is just about the most awesome thing ever!!

mangum · Apr 16, 2013

Awesome finds & congrats on the ancient gold!

Westfront · Apr 17, 2013

Thanks guys! I've not heard about many roman gold rings dug by detectorists, in fact i've only seen one in person. I did a little research and came up with this: Very very little turn up in the field as lost rings. Most are found in graves and there in a 1000 to 1 ratio. So this is really a very rare find and i'm happy that this ring was under the coil!

Westfront · Apr 17, 2013

oxbowbarefoot said:
It looks like it was just minted. That soil is very kind.

On the 2000 year old gold ring, I am simply in awe. I'm voting BANNER for sure. Killer Finds!!!

Thanks for the vote!
The little Wheaty isn't dug. Just eyeballed in a car i imported from the States! Still looking in every car to get a silver! :laughing7:

I use it for size comparison.

Westfront · Apr 17, 2013

CRUSADER said:
Cru'D's thoughts:

'Westfront’s ring may be more dateable than most due to the female hairstyle. These did vary significantly between centuries etc and could help. I venture that the date may be late C2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and early C3[SUP]rd[/SUP] as the hair appears to cover the ear and a far amount of the neck – from what I can see it is similar in shape and style to that worn by Julia Domna and Julia Soaemias so circa AD195 to 222.'

Thanks to Crudad again for his Id. :icon_thumright:

That was my thought too, but only founded on the fact that the complete site seems to be late roman.

CASPER-2 · Apr 17, 2013

uglymailman · Apr 21, 2013

I can't believe this hasn't gone banner. Come on Mod's, give it another look. How many 2K yr old GOLD rings have been on here?

CRUSADER · Apr 21, 2013

I forgot to say, that belt stiffener next to the Cross is Roman Military related,,,,interesting...

Iffysignal · Apr 21, 2013

Wow. That's an incredible find. Good luck and HH.

Westfront · Apr 21, 2013

CRUSADER said:
I forgot to say, that belt stiffener next to the Cross is Roman Military related,,,,interesting...

The Wolfheaded Pendant from this site is also more a military find, but till now no other signs of military in this area. I didn't got roof tiles with legion stamps, wich would be another sign and the next road is 2 miles away. A bit too far for a patrol unit.

Zodiacdiverdave · Apr 21, 2013

Not to take away from Heavymetalnut's increadable finds but why hasn't this made it up to the Banner yet? :BangHead:

Westfront the updated pic of the ring, amazing! What a great find, what I wouldn't do to have a site like yours.
Again, Congrats :hello2:

ZDD

CRUSADER · Apr 21, 2013

Zodiacdiverdave said:
Not to take away from Heavymetalnut's increadable finds but why hasn't this made it up to the Banner yet?
Westfront the updated pic of the ring, amazing! What a great find, what I wouldn't do to have a site like yours.
Again, Congrats
ZDD

No idea, as we see GW buttons far more frequently.

Westfront · Apr 21, 2013

Thanks guys! But we stop debating this banner thing now. It's not worth the effort. I liked to share this ring with folks who appreciate a rare find. I got fabulous response from people who know much more about this theme than i do. To dig roman gold was a great day in my books and there is not much more to top this!

Zodiacdiverdave · Apr 21, 2013

Thanks for sharing this increadable find with us.
ZDD

Metro Retro · Apr 21, 2013

Jaw dropping "WOW". What a score! And that amazing cameo ring! How great that the jeweler restored it's shape. Do you know what the gold fineness is? I'm in awe. :notworthy:

CRUSADER · Apr 21, 2013

Evolution · Apr 21, 2013

You had a great day. Love the ring. :thumbsup:

AU Seeker · Apr 21, 2013

Westfront I haven't seen this post until now, and I see it has made the Banner and rightly so. :notworthy:

Ya'll have to excuse us "Yanks" over here, the oldest stuff we dig is only a few hundreds years old, we don't comprehend anything over 400 or 500 years old :dontknow:

, when we find something that old it's a rock or an native american arrowhead, so bear with us because we're slow but we'll come around sooner or later!!! :laughing7: