AN ancient Roman gold ring, supposedly found in a farmer’s field, is at the centre of a police investigation after it emerged the relic had been sold on the internet just weeks earlier.

Amateur treasure hunters Colin Hilton and Gary Moore claimed to have found the 2,000-year-old trinket buried six inches under the surface of a field.

They alerted the district coroner under “treasure trove” laws to establish if the ring should be added to the collection of the British Museum - which would have made them eligible for a reward.

But a hearing in Oldham was dramatically halted after evidence was produced to suggest that the treasure had previously appeared on the internet auction site eBay and been sold for £42.23, plus £1.85 postage and packing.

Coroner Simon Nelson adjourned the case to allow police to investigate whether a fraud had been committed.

The two treasure hunters, aged in their early twenties, had claimed they found the ring - confirmed by experts to be a Roman finger ring dating from the first or second century - while using metal detectors in a field near Daisy Nook Country Park, Failsworth, last November.

Posted: 08|27|06 at 7:16 am. Filed under: UK News.