Woman Discovers Hat Pin That May Have Belonged to King Edward IV

The pin was discovered in Lincolnshire, England (Google Maps)

An English woman unearthed a rare hat pin from 1485 which might have belonged to King Edward IV, who reigned during the 15th century.

Lisa Grace spotted the jewel, which is reportedly in pristine condition, while she searched a field in Lincolnshire, reported the Daily Mail. She used a metal detector to locate it.

Experts told the publication that the jewel was made sometime in the 1400s and was designed as a sun, which was the personal emblem of King Edward IV. They think it might have been lost in battle, and there were many in Lincolnshire around that time.

“The jewel does bear a striking resemblance to the one in a well-known portrait of Edward IV from the Musee Calvet,” an official with Duke’s told the news outlet. He said it may have belonged to a courtier.

“The fact is we shall never know but it clearly belonged to someone of high status in the upper echelons of medieval society,” the official, named only as Mr. Schwinge, added.

According to the publication, museums and collectors may pay between $13,000 to $20,000 for the hat pin.

Grace, meanwhile, said she “didn’t have any idea” what it was at first.

“It was only later when I phoned some friends and did some research that I found out how special it was,” she continued.

“The possibility that it could have belonged to royalty is amazing and even if it didn’t, it would have belonged to someone of high status,” Grace told the news outlet, which added that she listed the pin for sale.

It is slated to be auctioned at Duke’s in Dorchester on April 26.

“The battle that cemented Edward and the Yorkist regime’s connection with the sun was far from the last in a 30-year series of civil wars collectively known as the Wars of the Roses,” wrote Smithsonian about Edward IV’s reign.

“Although the burst of energy inspired by the sight of three suns in the sky (Decoded Science’s Jennifer Young explains that the awe-inspiring presence of two extra suns stemmed from the refraction of sunlight through ice crystals in clouds) propelled the Yorks to initial victory, the brief period of peace that followed ended when Edward’s former ally and mentor, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick—known as the ‘Kingmaker’ for his role in helping the young Yorkist ascend to the throne—turned against his protégé and allied with Margaret of Anjou, wife of the deposed Lancastrian Henry VI,” it says.

A portrait of King Edward IV (Public Domain)

Edward IV ruled from 1461 until 1470 in his first reign, and he later ruled from 1471 until 1483, which is when he died. He was succeeded by King Edward V.

He was the eldest surviving son of Richard, the Duke of York. “He succeeded to his father’s titles when the latter was killed in a battle with the Lancastrians (Dec. 30, 1460) and became the chief claimant to the throne in the war with King Henry VI and his wife, Queen Margaret,” says a writeup from Archontology.org.