TREASURE hunter Stephen Auker is waiting to hear if a Keighley museum wants to show off his latest find – a gold Tudor ring.

Cliffe Castle has already bought more than 100 ancient silver Roman coins he found in a secret location in Silsden earlier this year so it can put them on display.

It will all be made official at a treasure trove inquest in Bradford tomorrow, which means the undisclosed value of the coins can be split between Mr Auker, 57, of Riddlesden, and the owner of the field.

A date still has to be set for another inquest into the finding and fate of the merchant’s signet ring that dates back to about 1550, which he also dug up in Silsden, but in a different field only weeks after uncovering the scattered coin hoard.

He believes the coins could originally have been kept in some kind of vessel that was shattered down in the earth by a mediaeval plough.

Mr Auker only took up the hobby after getting a metal detector for Christmas from his wife, which he said has turned out to be the best present of his life. The ring, just like the coins, was sent to the British Museum to be identified and has now officially been declared treasure.

Mr Auker, whose previous hobby was running in aid of Cancer Research UK, said: “I struck it lucky then struck gold in a short time.

“The British Museum will have thousands of those coins and hundreds of Tudor rings so the next step was to offer them to my nearest museum. Cliffe Castle’s bought the coins and they’ve got 30 days to decide if they are going to buy the ring or not – but I think they will.

“I expect the ring will be worth about £200 to £400 – not that expensive because they were quite common in their day, but they don’t come up every day and not in this area.

“It took me about six weeks to get all the coins and I had to dig about 1,500 holes going through a load of rubbish.

“What is so unusual about my case is I have had two treasure troves in just months from starting metal detecting.”

Mr Auker has been in Filey this week, where he found a single solid silver Edward I penny dated 1272. He is also finding his free recovery service is proving much in demand by people who have heard of him, which have included re-uniting two people with their long-lost wedding rings.

“As long as people have a rough idea where things were lost then there’s a good chance I’ll find them, whether it’s jewellery or car keys.”

Anyone needing his help can contact Mr Auker on 07722 114503.

lWhat do you think? E-mail richard.parker@keighleynews.co.uk or write to the Keighley News, 80-86 North Street, Keighley BD21 3AG.