Calgary metal detectorist seeks owner after digging up gold ring inscribed 'Audrie'

A Calgary man is searching for the owner of a well-worn gold ring inscribed "Audrie" and dated "1959."

John Paterson,a metal detecting enthusiast, found the jewellery buried nearly 10 centimetres deep in the field outside Colonel Macleod School in the city's northeast on Sunday.

The field used to be the site of the old Calgary airfield. Paterson lives in the neighbourhood, Renfrew, so he often searches the grass for tunic buttons, hat badges and other unusual finds.

Usually the school field holdspencil numbs, zippers and pennies,so he was startled to find thegold ring.

"The ring has an awful lot of wear on it so I think it was worn quite some time before it was dropped in the soil," Paterson told the Calgary Eyeopener on Thursday. "But you never know, Audrie may not be with us but her children might be listening."

Audriefrom 1959

Paterson wants to find the owner and return the ring. It's a gold band with some detailing and a silver ring around the outside. On the inside,the name Audrie is inscribe, along with a date in 1959.

(He's keeping the month and day secret for now, in the hope thatthe rightful owner can name those digits to claim it.)

If the date marks a wedding, Paterson thinks the bride would likely be in her 80snow. If it notes a birth date, Audrie would be just under 60.

"Most rings don't have anything on the inside. This one's an exception," he said. "So I thought, 'Old people listen to CBC. Let's give it a shot.'"

He also thinks the ring belonged to either a woman or someone with slighthands. It onlyfits on his pinky.

Paterson, a volunteer with theCalgary Metal Detecting Club,has hadsome past luck returning treasures.A couple years ago, he found and returned a sterling silver general service badge to the daughter of a veteran.

He matched the badge'sserial number to files with Library and Archives Canada and Veterans Affairs, and then careful online sleuthing led him to theserviceman's surviving children.

"Most of the stuff you find, you can't do that with," Paterson said.

But they sometimes can tell a talenonetheless.

"One year, I found a bunch of [air force] tunic buttons and a garter belt clasp all together on the side of a hill. There's a story there," Paterson said with a laugh. "Woman haven't worn garter belts for a long time at least, nobody I know."

Anyone with tips about the ring or Audriecan contact Paterson at johnfromalberta@gmail.com.

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With files from Elizabeth Withey and theCalgary Eyeopener.