I Found a 400-Year-Old Ring Worn by a King, and It’s Selling for a Staggering Price

A father who found a 400-year-old falconry ring once owned by King Charles I is about to sell the priceless item for an eye-watering sum.

The small hawk ring, found in a pile of rubble near the Thames by metal detector Roy Davis in the 1980s, lay untouched in an attic for almost 40 years.

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Lucky owner Roy only realized its royal origins after cleaning it forty years after he first discovered it.

The father of fifteen thought the ring was worthless until he discovered it belonged to King Charles I, who ruled Britain until his execution in 1649.

The ring, which hung from a chain on a hawk, has a diameter of only 10 mm.

It will now go under the hammer at auction house Noonan next week and is expected to fetch as much as £3,000.

Former company manager Roy, now 82, recalled searching with his Compass 77B metal detector one Saturday morning in the late 1980s.

When he found the historic ring, he found it on some cairns next to the River Thames.

But at the time he thought no more about it and cast it aside as worthless.

But last year, after making some old discoveries at home, Roy took the ring from the drawer where it had been stored for decades.

He decided to clean it and was shocked to find it said “Charles King.”

“The little ring was heavily covered when it was found and I didn’t think anything of it, so I put it aside,” Roy explained.

“While looking through some old finds recently, I decided to clean the ring and saw that it had a royal coat of arms and the legend Charles King on it.”

Noonans artefacts and coins expert Nigel Mills explained that falconry was all the rage during the reign of Charles I.

However, after weapons became more common, the practice became less common and as a result, this ring may be the last artifact attributed to Royalty.

Charles I was publicly executed outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London, in January 1649, after being convicted of treason.

“Our current King Charles III became a keen polo player from the age of 15,” Mr Mills explains.

“But in the 16th and 17th centuries it was falconry that was keenly followed by the royal family and nobility.

“Charles I would have had a number of trained birds of prey used for hunting small game such as rabbits, and it is likely that he would have kept some of his hawks in the Tower of London.

“It was only in the last twenty years that we realized how important these little rings were, but they are very important little things.

‘Charles I’s ring may well have been the last, as falconry began to die out after the coat of arms came into existence.

‘He was the last of the royal princes to have them.

“This is a very exciting find with only one other known example in the British Museum, as well as other vervels belonging to Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James I.”

The ring will be sold as part of a sale of Vertu jewellery, watches, silver and objects at Noonans Mayfair on March 12, and is estimated to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000.

Mr. Davis has said he plans to share the proceeds of the sale among his children.

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