Couple find engagement ring in Italy nine years after they lost it

Justin and Margaret Mussel found her engagement ring in Italy nine years after they lost it. Photo / Facebook

A US couple has found an engagement ring that they lost in Italy nine years ago.

Justin and Margaret Mussel from New Jersey were visiting San Marco dei Cavoti, Italy in 2008 when Margaret noticed that her engagement ring was gone.

"Earlier that day we had visited Pompeii and it was extremely hot," Mr Mussel told the Asbury Park Press. "My wife's ring was loose, but she didn't realise it was gone until later."

Despite retracing their steps and looking everywhere for it the couple eventually assumed they had lost it in Pompeii.

The lost engagement ring. Photo / Facebook

Fast forward nine years and the Mussels, now parents to two young boys, are back in Italy where Margaret's family owns a home.

Mr Mussel says they were sitting on a bench in the front yard of the house when something caught his eye.

"I saw this flicker of light coming out of a crack in the sidewalk," he said.

The crack was a few inches deep so Mr Mussel got a screwdriver and eventually pulled out the lost engagement ring.

"I thought he was crazy," Mrs Mussel said. "I was like, 'There's no way the ring is in there.' I couldn't believe it. I thought he was playing a joke."

The crack where the engagement ring was lost. Photo / Facebook

"The band is a little scuffed up, but not too bad," she said. "The diamond looks good. If you saw it, you wouldn't think it was in a crack for nine years."

Mr Mussel says he still can't believe it.

"The odds of it falling into this crack, much less finding it nine years later, are astronomical," he said.

Mrs Mussel says she plans to save the newer one for when one of her sons gets married.