Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Two metal detector enthusiasts expected a quiet start to their season, but their plans changed when their detector began beeping continuously in a field near Rena in eastern Norway. The signal led to the discovery of what is now recognized as the largest Viking Age coin hoard ever found in Norway.
Vegard Sørlie (left) and Rune Sætre have found Norway’s largest coin hoard from the Viking Age. “They have done a fantastic job and followed the regulations to the letter,” says archaeologist May-Tove Smiseth. (Photo: Anne Engesveen / Innlandet County Municipality)
Detectorists Vegard Sørlie and Rune Sætre initially uncovered 19 silver coins. Recognizing the potential historical importance of the find, they halted their search and contacted the authorities so that professional archaeologists could take over.
Archaeologists are now investigating the site and have described the hoard as an extraordinary and highly significant discovery for understanding the Viking Age in Norway.
“This is completely unprecedented,” says May-Tove Smiseth. “It’s absolutely incredible.”
Smiseth is an archaeologist responsible for metal detector finds in Innlandet County Municipality.
Two of the silver coins from the hoard, with a king’s head in profile. The coins are incredibly well preserved despite their time in the field. (Photo: Anne Engesveen / Innlandet County Municipality)
After the first day, when archaeologists joined the coin search, the number quickly rose to 70, an exciting sign of what was to come. Smiseth initially thought it was unlikely they would exceed 500 coins, yet each passing day brought new surprises as the discoveries continued to break records.
This week, the count surpassed an astonishing 3,000 coins.
“It has been absolutely unbelievable to stand there and watch these coins be lifted out of the ground. And to see the quality of the coins. They are so beautiful,” says Smiseth.
The soil at the site contains very little stone, which may explain the exceptional condition of the coins.
“They have been preserved so well that they almost look newly minted,” she says.
A German coin from the Mørstad Hoard. Finds of this type are automatically protected under the Cultural Heritage Act. (Photo: May-Tove Smiseth / Innlandet County Municipality)
The first coins were found on 10 April. After the discovery, metal detectorists and archaeologists in Innlandet quickly joined forces to secure as much of the find as possible.
Innlandet has a strong reputation for training and collaborating with metal detectorists, resulting in more discoveries than anywhere else in Norway. “The team worked hard to recover and secure everything before we made the discovery public,” says archaeologist May-Tove Smiseth.
“This is the kind of thing that only happens once in a lifetime,” Smiseth says of excavating Norway’s largest Viking Age coin hoard. “It’s not very reassuring to have such a large treasure lying unsecured. We deliberately delayed announcing it until we felt we had more control.”
Most of the coins were delivered to the coin cabinet at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo on Monday, a milestone made possible by the dedication of everyone involved.
Euro Or Dollar Of The Viking Age
There, they were received by professor and coin expert Svein Harald Gullbekk.
A handful of the silver coins photographed in the studio after being handed over to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. (Photo: Florent Audy / Museum of Cultural History)
“This is extraordinary,” Gullbekk tells Science Norway.
So far, it appears that the treasure dates from the end of the Viking Age. It was likely buried in the ground in Innlandet sometime around 1050, according to the professor.
“We have previously found Viking Age coin hoards containing around 2,000 coins, but never more than 3,000. They have broken a barrier here. This is truly exceptional. Truly exceptional,” he says.
Compared with similar discoveries in Denmark, Sweden, and England, this newly uncovered Norwegian Viking treasure holds up well, according to Gullbekk.
Rune Sætre, one of the two detectorists who found the hoard, checks a signal at the site. (Photo: Anne Engesveen / Innlandet County Municipality)
Although Gullbekk hasn’t yet had the opportunity to examine the coins in detail, he has still been able to offer some fascinating historical insights based on what he has seen so far. According to the professor, most of the coins appear to be German and English pieces from the late Viking Age.
“This is typical of finds throughout Northern Europe. You could call them the euro or dollar of the Viking Age,” he says.
What makes the new Mørstad Hoard especially remarkable is that it also contains Norwegian coins—pieces that must have been relatively newly minted when they were laid in the ground. As Gullbekk explains, it was Harald Hardrada who established a Norwegian national minting system after returning from Byzantium around 1045.
“So not only is the discovery itself extraordinary, but it is also closely tied to a particularly fascinating and significant period in Norwegian history,” the Professor notes with evident appreciation.
The Coins Were Scattered By The Plough
The field where the treasure was discovered had never been examined by metal detectorists. Archaeologists believe that the coins were originally buried in the ground in a leather pouch or another form of organic container. After this material decayed, the plough disturbed the coins and dispersed them across the field.
A cross on the back of one of the coins. (Photo: May-Tove Smiseth / Innlandet County Municipality)
According to the researchers, the coins went unnoticed by those working the land. Modern agricultural practices mean that people no longer walk the fields; instead, they operate machinery from elevated positions. Apart from the coin discovery, the archaeologists have not yet identified evidence of other activity in the area.
In addition to continuing their intensive search for further coins, the team has conducted a survey of the site using ground-penetrating radar, a technology that employs electromagnetic waves to detect subsurface structures.
“We have not found any archaeological structures in the ground,” says Smiseth.
The Vikings’ Safe Deposit Box
In archaeological terms, it’s known as a deposit; in everyday language, we might simply call it a treasure or hoard. It’s fascinating—and well established—that people took care to bury their valuables during the Viking Age, leaving us with remarkable finds to discover and appreciate today.
“Someone used this land as a kind of safe deposit box and concealed these valuables here,” Gullbekk says about the Mørstad Hoard.
This coin has traces of being hung and used as jewelry. (Photo: May-Tove Smiseth / Innlandet County Municipality)
Why they did it, we will never know for certain. It could have been an offering to the gods, or an attempt to hide their fortune from thieves and war.
“What we know about these kinds of deposits that are found today is that they were never retrieved. For various reasons,” says Gullbekk.
“We are probably talking about either a person or a family who stored part of their wealth in the ground here. It’s interesting to speculate on what this amount could have purchased and how valuable it really was,” he says.
Providing a precise answer is challenging, as there are no surviving written records of prices from the Nordic region for this period. However, based on property purchase agreements from the 1200s–1300s, this amount may have been sufficient to purchase a farm, according to the professor.
Could There Be More Viking Age Treasures In The Area?
Gullbekk estimates that the field and surrounding area will continue to be investigated for a couple more seasons.
“When you turn the soil, additional objects often emerge, including coins that may have been missed during earlier excavations,” he says. “It will also be exciting to see whether there are any traces of building structures nearby, whether there was a farm here or other man-made structures.”
See also: More Archaeology News
Gullbekk is quite certain that there are more such deposits, or treasures, to be found.
“In the Icelandic sagas, for instance, there are accounts of treasure being buried in specific places that have still not been located,” he says, adding:
“There are probably quite a few treasures still hidden. Anything else would be strange.”
Source: Science in Norway
Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
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