Roman ring returned to Turkey

May 23,2007 00:00 by UPI

LONDON - British officials have returned a 1,900-year-old Roman ring to Turkey after determining it was probably illegally exported.

Revenue and Customs agents seized the ring while it was being valued at a museum in Derby, the BBC reported. Officials from the Turkish Embassy received the ring at East Midlands Airport.

The ring, made of iron and silver, has a gemstone that bears a portrait of the Emperor Lucius Verus, who was briefly co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius. The ring was made between 161 and 169 A.D. and is believed to have been removed from an archaeological site in Ephesus.

Sermin Ozduran, a Turkish diplomat who received the ring, called it an important piece of his country's history. The ring eventually is expected to be on display in a museum there.