A gold ring that belonged to a former Prime Minister has been sold for nearly £10k at auction after being found by a metal detectorist in Aylesbury.

Tom Clark, 85, dug up the medieval gold seal ring alongside a hoard of other treasures including a Roman bronze coin and a Georgian gilded broach while testing out his new metal detector machine in a sheep pasture near his Bucks home last May.

A closer inspection of the impressive haul revealed the name ‘Grenvil’ etched onto the mud-coated ring, linking it with the ancestral family of a nearby manor house that was once occupied by Prime Minister George Grenville, who held office between 1763 and 1765.

Auctioneers at Noonans in London believe that the artefact dates back to the 18th century and was handed down from Grenville to his son, also named George, who lived near the discovery spot in Aylesbury, before it was presumably dropped in the field by accident. 

(Image: Noonans)

It was estimated that the ring would fetch up to £8,000 when it went to auction yesterday (June 11), but a buyer from the US exceeded expectations by shelling out £9,500 for the antique.

Mr Clark, who will share the proceeds 50-50 with the landowner, said he had been out metal detecting while the sale was happening and only caught the tail end of the auction after heading inside as it began to rain.

The 85-year-old said he was “very pleased” with the “fantastic” result, adding: “I would like to put the money in my bank account, but I am sure my wife will have ideas of how to spend it!”

(Image: Noonans)

READ MORE: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang windmill in Bucks DROPS asking price by £2m

Nigel Mills, Artefact and Coin expert at Noonans, previously described the ring as a “truly exciting discovery”.

Adding: “The arms on the bezel of the ring are those of Grenville, of Wotton Underwood and Stowe in Buckinghamshire. (It shows) a shield quartered with a central cross bearing five roundels, a helmet placed above the shield with a crest of a sheaf of corn and an inscription that reads ‘Sigillum Georg de grenvil’ (seal of George Grenville).”

(Image: Noonans)

Grenville is remembered in history books for trying to reduce Britain’s debt by raising revenue in the American colonies through introducing the Sugar Act, the Currency Act and the Stamp Act.

These new laws, especially the Stamp Act, where strongly objected to by colonists and ultimately helped provoke the American Revolutionary War of 1775 to 1783.

They also contributed to Grenville being dismissed from office by King George III in 1765.