Hoard of Viking coins unearthed in Denmark

COPENHAGEN

Nearly 300 silver coins believed to be more than 1,000 years old have been discovered near a Viking fortress site in northwestern Denmark, a museum said on April 20.

The rare trove, lying in two spots not far apart, was unearthed by a young girl who was metal detecting in a cornfield last autumn.

“A hoard like this is very rare,” Lars Christian Norbach, director of the North Jutland museum where the artefacts will go on display, told AFP.

The silver coins were found about eight kilometers from the Fyrkat Viking ringfort near the town of Hobro.

From their inscriptions, they are believed to date back to the 980s.

The trove includes Danish, Arab and Germanic coins as well as pieces of jewelry originating from Scotland or Ireland, according to archaeologists.

Norbach said the finds were from the same period as the fort, built by king Harald Bluetooth, and would offer more insight into the history of the Vikings.

There could be a link between the treasure, which the Vikings would bury during wars, and the fort which burned down during the same period, he said.

Archaeologists have said they will continue digging next autumn after the harvest.

They hope to find the burial sites and homes of the troves’ one-time owners.

The Vikings believed that burying their treasure allowed them to find it again after death.

The artefacts will go on public display from July at the Aalborg Historical Museum.

The girl who made the discovery is due to receive financial compensation, the amount of which has not been made public.