News

Metal detector seeks owner of gold wedding ring

By Bill Moss, Published: February 1, 2018

Metal detecting hobbyist Denny Foresman hopes a groom out there somewhere will retrieve a wedding ring that he found at a soccer field at Sandhill-Venable Elementary School in Asheville.

“We were metal detecting in the middle of their soccer field,” Foresman said. “I found the ring and (his friend) had a found gold chain with a cross on it.”
The ring did not look like yellow gold but appeared more similar to silver. When Foresman took it to a shop, the jeweler identified it as 10-carat gold.
“The jeweler told me it is not a factory made,” he said. “It’s got the dates on the inside.”
Foresman was talking about the find at the St. James Episcopal Church’s Thursday Thrift Shop, where he volunteers, when other volunteers suggested they publicize the ring and hope the owner turns up. Sometimes the thrift shop melts down jewelry that doesn’t sell. The volunteers don’t want to do that if they can reunite the ring with the ring finger it came from.
“Otherwise it’s probably going to get melted out,” Foresman said. “I don’t have any idea what the value is. It’s not worth 50 cents, it’s not worth $5,000.”
Its sentimental value may be greater than its appraised value.
“It had the exact (wedding) date,” said Susan Danos, a Thursday Thrift volunteer. “It’s a very nice ring and it’s quite heavy. I just thought it would be wonderful if somebody could be reconnected with it.”
A husband who knows his wedding date may claim the ring by calling St. James Episcopal Church at 828.693-9351.