Priceless Jewelry Found After Lost in Strawberry Field Over 50 Years, Owner in Disbelief
When Dave Radley turned 21, he was gifted a beautiful signet ring from his mother as a birthday present. That was back in 1968. He and his family were living in Seagrave, Leics in the United Kingdom at the time.
There’s quite a bit of symbolism in connection to a signet ring in his culture. In general, it communicates stylish class and family identity. A person’s family crest is usually engraved into the ring.
Perhaps the circumstances in connection to which Radley received the ring from his mother, his 21st birthday, also suggests a sort of rite of passage into manhood.
Only a few short weeks after receiving the precious birthday present, Radley had the misfortune of losing it. He and his friend Mick Lovett were picking strawberries in a field behind Lovett’s house; they intended to sell the fruit to shops.
As they were gathering the strawberries in the field, Radley’s 9 carat gold signet ring slipped off his finger.
“My family wasn’t too well off in those days and I spent hours searching for it on the rows we had been. My mother wasn’t upset with me, just more upset because of how distraught I was,” Radley told Good News Network.
Then, about 54 years later, Radley got a phone call with some wonderful news. Lovett’s brother, Peter, owns the field where the two friends were picking strawberries many years ago. Peter decided to hire someone with a metal detector to look for the ring, and the ring was discovered under several inches of dirt.
“When I got the call from Peter, I couldn’t quite believe it — the joy I felt in that moment is indescribable,” Radley said.
Out of curiosity, he took the ring to a jeweler to have it appraised. He was told it was worth £700 (about $805 U.S. dollars). This gave Radley a whole new depth of appreciation for the gift, and what it cost his late mother to have it made for him so many years ago.
