A man who found a $40,000 diamond ring discovery on a beach has kindly returned the piece of jewellery back to its owner. Joseph Cook, 37, says it is most valuable find ever after returning around $60,000 worth of items back to people this year.
The 37-year-old is an avid detectorist and was using his metal detector on a Florida beach when he came across the ring. He captured his find on the Floria beach in a video, which showed him digging the ring out of the sand, reports the Mirror.
In the clip, Joseph said: "No way, man, whoah, look at that bad boy, yo that's real, I swear to God this is the biggest diamond I ever found on the beach".
Joseph shared the video on social media and called local jewellery shops to see if anyone recognised the ring or might have lost it. However, he was left stunned when he visited a jewellers who told him the value of his find.
Joseph said: "When I went to the jewellers, they told me it was worth $40,000. I just said, 'oh God that's been sitting in my scooter for almost a week', I couldn't believe it."
The 37-year-old confessed that when he first detected the item, he thought "it would just be a nickel". However, he was left baffled to dig up a 'big old diamond and platinum ring".
In the coming weeks, Joseph began receiving calls from an unknown number, which he initially ignored. However, he later realised that they could be from the owners of his $40,000 (£33,750) find.
He ended up calling back the number and spoke to a couple from Jacksonville, who had lost a similar ring to the one he had shared across social media. Joseph said: "They were pretty happy"
"The wife was on a facetime call and she just said, oh my God I can't believe it, and then she just started crying."
He then met up with the couple in person to return the ring and says he was delighted to return the piece. Joseph said: It felt really good, I've returned sixty-thousand dollars of stuff this year, but nothing even close to this before."
"I really wasn't disappointed that I had to return it, I've got a necklace with about twenty-five to thirty rings on it just so I can return them to their owners.
"Karma's always good, every time I return an item, I find something better, so I'm happy I could give it back."
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