The following articles report on this rare sapphire ring, found by metal detectorist Michael Greenhorn in 2009, has now been acquired by the Yorkshire Museum for £35,000.
By Past Horizons.com, Monday 1st August 2011
Past Horizons reports about the find of this rare and illusive sapphire ring.
By the BBC News, Wednesday 27th July 2011
It was found by Michael Greenhorn from the York and District Metal Detecting Club in April 2009. –The BBC news
By Mark Foster, The Adviser, Thursday 28th July 2011
Now it has been acquired by the city’s Yorkshire Museum for £35,000, where it will become one of the highlights of its collection when it goes on display in a few weeks’ time. – The Adviser
By David Keys, The Independent, Archaeology Correspondent, Friday, 29th July 2011
The museum, in York, also plans to track down the ultimate origin of the sapphire itself. It’s possible that it came originally from India or Sri Lanka and a special scanning electron microscopy examination of the gem will almost certainly be carried out to identify trace elements and ascertain its geological background.
This may also help to reconstruct its pre-Anglo-Saxon history. Is it likely to have been imported into England or Europe from thousands of miles away in Anglo-Saxon times, or is it more likely that it was imported in Roman times and re-used in various different high status roles for hundreds of years before it was lost south of York a millennium or more ago. – The Independent
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