A buried golden ring engraved with an “unusual” love note has been declared treasure, a coroner ruled today.

The finger ring, thought to be from the Tudor times, was found by a metal detector and dug up at a St Albans property in September last year.

Engraved in the inside of the treasure reads: “Remember him whom this did geve who yeldes his hart whiles he doth leve”.

During an inquest at Hertfordshire Coroners Court in Hatfield this afternoon, Coroner Edward Thomas said: “It has an interesting inscription inside.

“This sort of ring is something that somebody would give to somebody to remember them by when they went off and when they come back.

“ I think it must have been a man giving this to a girl, as though he was giving his heart.

“I am satisfied it is treasure- I declare it as treasure.”

In a report from the British Museum, it was confirmed that the ring was a sixteenth or seventeenth century ring, with traces of metal.

Mr Thomas explained that the ring was “unusual” because its inscription had never been seen before. It is not listed in a book called ‘English Posies and Posy Rings’ published in 1931, which examines their origins and contains an extensive list of inscriptions.

The Museum of St Albans has expressed an interest in displaying the ring.