An assemblage of more than 3,000 silver coins, the largest Viking-era coin hoard ever found in Norway, has been discovered in Østerdalen. Large coin hoards are extremely rare in Norway and one of this size is without parallel on the archaeological record. The second largest, found in the 1830s, contained 1,849 coins. The third largest and the last to be found before this one in 1950 and contained just 964 coins.
The first 19 coins were found by metal detectorists Rune Sætre and Vegard Sørlie in a field near Rena on April 10th. The coins were scattered in the plough layer of extensively cultivated land, likely because the original container of the single deposit was destroyed by agricultural activity.
Dubbed the Mørstad hoard after the farm where the coins were found, they range in date from 980s to the 1040s, a turbulent period in Norway’s history when Viking warriors brought treasure home from their raids abroad. So far most of them are from England and Germany, with a smaller number of Danish and Norwegian coins in the mix. There are coins minted by Cnut the Great, at various times king of England, Denmark and Norway, Æthelred the Unready of England, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and Harald Hardrada of Norway.
Foreign coins Norway’s main currency until the reign of Hardrada who was the first king to establish a national mint in the country after his return from a visit to Byzantium in 1045. Based on the dates of the coins, the hoard was deposited around 1047, the very beginning of this important transition, and there are pieces of hacksilver (fragments of brooches, ingots, other silver objects that were cut off and used as currency based on their weight).
Excavations are ongoing and plenty of coins are still being found. For a while coins were being unearthed at a rate of 200 a day. That seems to be slowing now, but yesterday the count was 150, so who knows what the final number will be.
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