Sometimes it's better not to listen to your wife -- at least when she tells you to throw away that dirt-encrusted thingy you found outside.
A silver ring discovered by a man from County Down, Northern Ireland, turned out to be a rare Viking treasure dating back to some time between the years 950 and 1100.
"She thought it was a bull ring and said 'throw that in the bin'," David Taylor, 42, said following the ruling at a treasure trove inquest hearing, BBC News reported. "I just knew by the shape of it, it was something."
Taylor discovered the artifact while he was lifting stones on his brother-in-law's farm. He promptly cleaned it and called the local museum for inspection -- 18 months later, a coroner's court has ruled that the ring truly is a Viking relic, likely worn as jewelry and used as currency.
Viking artifacts are rarely found in Ireland. University College Cork archaeologist John Sheehan suspects the ring originally came from Shetland or the Orkney Isles in Scotland, areas ruled by Vikings like Thorfinn the Skull Splitter at the time, according to The Telegraph.
"Maybe it fell into Irish hands and as a result of that ended up deposited for safe-keeping at a church site but then got lost," he said, according to BBC.
Experts at the U.K. Treasure Valuation Committee now will determine how much the ring is worth.
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