Two silver items unearthed in the same village have been confirmed as treasure trove.

The discoveries by metal detectorists in Cilcain were among seven items considered at an inquest in Ruthin by Joanne Lees, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central.

In January 2017, Andrew Critchley found a silver brooch dating from the late 13th or early-14th century and in July last year Simon Bennett-Williams found a section of silver gilt finger ring.

Part of the hoop was missing but Dr Mark Redknapp, head of collections and research in the department of history and archaeology at the National Museum of Wales, described the 14th-century find as “a fine example of a late mediaeval decorative ring”.

Also declared as treasure was a silver annular – or ring-shaped – brooch found by a Michael Nelson in Llanfynydd in October last year. It was said to date from the late 13th or early-14th century.

Not so lucky was a detectorist who unearthed a terminal from a pin or brooch at Halkyn in May, 2016. After hearing that it dated only from the mid-Victorian era Mrs Lees declared it could not be designated as treasure.

One of the criteria is that items must be at least 300-years-old.

The Leader:

A medieval silver brooch, found in Cilcain Community, Credit: Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum of Wales

A group of silver coins unearthed on one of the oldest estates in North Wales was declared as treasure.

Members of the South Lancashire and Cheshire Metal Detecting Club were on a visit to Plas Heaton, near Trefnant, in August last year when the discovery was made.

Stephen Marnick, from Birchwood, near Warrington, who has been a member for only four years, found the hoard of six shilling coins and two sixpence pieces.

His colleague Richard Leech then found a single sixpenny piece about 200 metres away in the same field.

Alastair Willis, senior curator of numismatics and the Welsh economy at the National Museum of Wales said the coins were probably buried for safe keeping during the English Civil Wars of 1641-1651.

“What’s particularly interesting is that two of the coins were struck at the Tower of London by Parliament after the start of the war,” he said. “They still bear Charles I’s portrait, however, because Parliament claimed that it was fighting the king’s advisers, not the king himself.”

The coroner found that the eight coins to be treasure but, on the advice of Mr Willis, found that the single coin found by Mr Leech was unrelated and therefore no treasure.

The coroner also ruled that a gold ring found four inches underground in a ploughed field at Llanfair DC was treasure trove.

The 17th-century posy ring was found by a Jason Kempster in December, 2016. On the inner surface is the inscription “Continew Faithvll” (“Continue Faithful”), and according to Dr Mark Redknapp, the museum’s head of collections and research, such rings were often exchanged as lovers’ gifts.

Also found in Llanfair DC in July 2016 was a 17th-century silver bodkin or dress pin. It was decorated with a terminal in the shape of a fleur-de-lys and would have been used to fasten clothing by drawing laces through the eyelets. The find was made by Allan Hughes.

Flintshire and Denbighshire Museums Service have expressed an interest in acquiring the items after they have been independently valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee.