Treasure hunter proposes to girlfriend after unearthing 19th century ring with metal detector that has BOTH their initials on Sean Flynn from Birmingham believes it was fate he found the ring while pursuing his metal detecting hobby He immediately popped the question to his long-term girlfriend, Angie Winwood, who was in the muddy field with him at the time Angie is allowed to keep the 200 year old piece of jewellery, that is not thought to be valuable, as her engagement ring A romantic treasure hunter went down on one knee after finding a 19th century ring with both his and his girlfriend's initials on it in a muddy field. Sean Flynn from Birmingham said he thought it was fate he unearthed the silvered copper ring with his metal detector - so he immediately popped the question to his girlfriend of eight years, Angie Winwood, who was with him at the time. The 51 year old recalls: 'The night before I found the ring I had been getting a bit of stick from my family about when I was going to propose to Angie. Fate in a field: Sean went down on one knee after finding a 200 year old ring with his and Angie's initials on When I found the ring I initially thought it was just a piece of copper pipe. Cleaning it I noticed it was a ring and there was a pattern on it. I immediately knew what I wanted to do. Angie was a little way away across the field and I called her over and got down on one knee. I held the ring up to her and said 'will you marry me?'. 'She looked really confused to begin with and I just said 'It's a ring, will you marry me?', and she just started smiling and saying yes. We then kissed and hugged and were laughing our heads off. Sean discovered the ring on an organised treasure hunt in a field in Ipstones near Stoke, Staffs. Finders keepers: The 19th century jewellery is not thought to be valuable and Angie intends to keep it as her engagement ring The couple had taken up the hobby in 2011 after Sean was diagnosed with non-hodgkin's lymphoma. The painter and decorator, who is now in remission, said: 'I was off work for six months and wanted to do something which got me out of the house to help my recovery. We just started going out treasure hunting and found it fascinating. When Sean's metal detector uncovered the ring, he was stunned to find the initials 'S' and 'A' inscribed upon it after wiping the mud off. Angie, a cook, said she couldn't believe it when he then proposed. 'I thought he was joking around at first,' she said. Then I saw he had tears in his eyes - but that might just have been because it was so cold. I sort of laughed and then said yes. When I saw it had 'A' and 'S' inscribed on it, I knew it was meant to be. Perfect proposal: The couple are both metal detecting enthusiasts and intend to tie the knot next year We love detecting so for Sean to find a ring and propose like this was just perfect. After proposing, Sean notified a finds liaison officer with the Government's Portable Antiquities Scheme, who declared he could keep the the 200-year-old ring, which is not thought to be valuable. Angie, 43, is keeping the band as her engagement ring and the couple plan to have gold replicas of it made for their wedding bands when they tie the knot next summer.