By . Martha De Lacey . PUBLISHED: . 06:57 EST, 27 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:41 EST, 27 September 2013 . When Brenda Caunter finished tending to the cabbages on her allotment one afternoon in 1972, she was distressed to find her beloved wedding ring had slipped off her finger and tumbled into the plot. She and her husband Dave desperately scoured the muddy area of Mawnan Smith, south Cornwall, for days, eventually giving up and replacing the nine-carat gold band. So Brenda, 62, now has two wedding rings, thanks to a local amateur treasure hunter who this week found the lost one while searching for medieval coins using a metal detector and returned it to its original owner 41 years after it was misplaced. Buried treasure: Brenda Caunter her husband Dave and the wedding ring which was found four decades after it was lost . Back in its rightful place: Mr Caunter holds his wife's hand as she wears the ring which was lost for four decades . After giving up on the ring in the 70s, Brenda and Dave thought nothing more of it until this week when Dave strolled past the same area - now fields - and spotted a neighbour with a metal detector. He looking for ancient coins, but Dave left him with a description of the long-lost jewellery, and roughly where it was lost, just in case. The couple were stunned when the neighbour rang him a few days later to say he'd found the nine-carat ring. Incredibly, it was still in near-perfect condition, despite being buried beneath soil for 41 years. Dave said: 'Back then the ring cost me a fortune. When Brenda told me she'd lost it we went back up there with our own metal detectors. 'But they were not nearly as good as they are now and we didn't find it. Eventually we had to buy a replacement.' Reunited: Brenda Caunter's wedding ring which was found four decades after it was lost . Then and now: Mr and Mrs Caunter photographed left on their wedding day in September 1969, and right today in the field were the ring was found by a neighbour who'd been hunting for treasure with his metal detector . Explaining how he came across the . neighbouring treasure hunter, Dave said: 'I was going out in the village . and saw him up in the field, and when I saw his wife I asked her: . "What's he up to in the field with that metal detector? Tell him if he . finds a ring, it belongs to Brenda." 'Then I had a phone call telling me that he had found a ring. I couldn't believe it after all these years.' Dave had saved up to buy the ring for Brenda before the pair married in September 1969. She had only been wearing it for three years when she lost it while uprooting veg near their home on the outskirts of Mawnan Smith, Cornwall. But the treasure hunter managed to find the ring in almost exactly the same spot where Brenda had dropped it. Happy day: Incredibly, the ring was still in near-perfect condition, despite being buried beneath soil for 41 years . Mr Caunter's brother Arthur handing him the ring before his wedding: He had saved up for the 9-carat band . The couple took the ring to a local jewellers to have a small crack repaired but it's now as good as new and back on Brenda's finger. She said: 'I was working in the field when I took my gloves off, and that's probably when it came off. 'When we got the phone call to say it had been found I didn't know what to say.' The ring's locator, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: 'It was in absolutely perfect condition, despite the number of years it had been there. 'I'm interested in history and I have often found medieval coins which are absolutely fascinating. That's why I was up there.'
Green-fingered Brenda Caunter, 62, lost ring on her allotment in 1972 .
She and husband Dave, 69, scoured the plot but gave up and replaced it .
The allotment - on outskirts of Mawnan Smith in Cornwall - is now fields .
Amateur treasure hunter was using metal detector to find medieval coins .
Came across 9-carat ring and returned it to Brenda based on description .
By . Martha De Lacey . PUBLISHED: . 06:57 EST, 27 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:41 EST, 27 September 2013 . When Brenda Caunter finished tending to the cabbages on her allotment one afternoon in 1972, she was distressed to find her beloved wedding ring had slipped off her finger and tumbled into the plot. She and her husband Dave desperately scoured the muddy area of Mawnan Smith, south Cornwall, for days, eventually giving up and replacing the nine-carat gold band. So Brenda, 62, now has two wedding rings, thanks to a local amateur treasure hunter who this week found the lost one while searching for medieval coins using a metal detector and returned it to its original owner 41 years after it was misplaced. Buried treasure: Brenda Caunter her husband Dave and the wedding ring which was found four decades after it was lost . Back in its rightful place: Mr Caunter holds his wife's hand as she wears the ring which was lost for four decades . After giving up on the ring in the 70s, Brenda and Dave thought nothing more of it until this week when Dave strolled past the same area - now fields - and spotted a neighbour with a metal detector. He looking for ancient coins, but Dave left him with a description of the long-lost jewellery, and roughly where it was lost, just in case. The couple were stunned when the neighbour rang him a few days later to say he'd found the nine-carat ring. Incredibly, it was still in near-perfect condition, despite being buried beneath soil for 41 years. Dave said: 'Back then the ring cost me a fortune. When Brenda told me she'd lost it we went back up there with our own metal detectors. 'But they were not nearly as good as they are now and we didn't find it. Eventually we had to buy a replacement.' Reunited: Brenda Caunter's wedding ring which was found four decades after it was lost . Then and now: Mr and Mrs Caunter photographed left on their wedding day in September 1969, and right today in the field were the ring was found by a neighbour who'd been hunting for treasure with his metal detector . Explaining how he came across the . neighbouring treasure hunter, Dave said: 'I was going out in the village . and saw him up in the field, and when I saw his wife I asked her: . "What's he up to in the field with that metal detector? Tell him if he . finds a ring, it belongs to Brenda." 'Then I had a phone call telling me that he had found a ring. I couldn't believe it after all these years.' Dave had saved up to buy the ring for Brenda before the pair married in September 1969. She had only been wearing it for three years when she lost it while uprooting veg near their home on the outskirts of Mawnan Smith, Cornwall. But the treasure hunter managed to find the ring in almost exactly the same spot where Brenda had dropped it. Happy day: Incredibly, the ring was still in near-perfect condition, despite being buried beneath soil for 41 years . Mr Caunter's brother Arthur handing him the ring before his wedding: He had saved up for the 9-carat band . The couple took the ring to a local jewellers to have a small crack repaired but it's now as good as new and back on Brenda's finger. She said: 'I was working in the field when I took my gloves off, and that's probably when it came off. 'When we got the phone call to say it had been found I didn't know what to say.' The ring's locator, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: 'It was in absolutely perfect condition, despite the number of years it had been there. 'I'm interested in history and I have often found medieval coins which are absolutely fascinating. That's why I was up there.'
tending to the cabbages on her allotment one and tumbled into the plot. She and her husband coins using a metal detector and returned it to misplaced. Buried treasure: Brenda Caunter her now fields - and spotted a neighbour with a metal across the . neighbouring treasure hunter, Dave outskirts of Mawnan Smith, Cornwall. But the treasure hunter managed to find the ring in was up there.'