A silver ring dug up in a garden has been declared as treasure by a coroner.

Now its finder, retired gasman Edwin Booth, is waiting to see if he will get a reward for unearthing the jewellery thought to be more than 400 years old.

A Bradford inquest yesterday heard how the 77-year-old, who lives in Sycamore Avenue, Birstall, made the discovery as he dug up his lawn.

“I’d just had a heart bypass and didn’t want so much grass to mow, so I decided to dig out some flower beds,” said Mr Booth.

He told the hearing: “I took it in, washed it then thought nothing much more about it and put it in a drawer.”

Some time later, his wife Christine found the ring. He took it to Bagshaw Museum in Batley, and it was passed on to the British Museum in London.

Deputy coroner Paul Marks said the ring was “a fine-looking object” of “massive proportion”.

Experts have dated it to the late 15th or 16th century. It has a 25mm diameter and has fluted shoulders terminating with a beaded circular bezal, marked with initials.

Mr Booth, who also once made a living selling underwear in Brighouse and Cleckheaton markets, said he was glad he had gone through the right channels to report the ring. He said: “I haven’t a clue about a reward. My wife and I do a lot of fundraising, so I’m sure we’d be making some contributions from it.”

One of those charities is Martin House Hospice for children at Boston Spa.

The ring is one of only 12 items of treasure to have been reported to be found in West Yorkshire since the Treasure Act in 1997, compared to almost 5,000 cases across England.

Kirklees Museum and Galleries now wants to acquire it for its collection, so a reward equivalent to the market value of the ring will be paid to Mr Booth.

Amy Downes, of the British Museum, said: “It’s a combination object, and could have been used as a seal. It would probably have been owned by a wealthy landowner. It would be exciting if we could link it to someone, but I believe there was talk of the top soil in the garden being imported from somewhere, so the ring could have come with it – the mystery widens.”

The ring will now be considered by a treasure valuation committee.

The museum has regular drop-in sessions at museums. To get more information, call (01924) 305359, and to see what other finds have been recorded, go to finds.org.uk.