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The 36 silver coins, minted between 1000 and 1065 CE, have been declared official treasure.
Courtesy of Manx National Heritage
A collection of thousand-year-old Viking Age coins has just been discovered on the Isle of Man, a small British crown territory in the Irish Sea, between Britain and Ireland.
Two men, John Crowe and David O’Hare, were metal detecting on the island last May when they discovered the lucky find. The collection includes 36 silver coins, some whole, some fragmented. This week, Manx National HeritageThis was announced by an organization that protects the natural and cultural heritage of the Isle of Man Rebecca Cubbonthe deputy coroner of the Isle of Man, examined the impressive artefacts and declared them official treasure.
“This is a wonderful find that helps advance our understanding of the complex Viking Age economy on the Isle of Man, where more Viking Age silver has been discovered per square kilometer than in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales,” said Allison FoxCurator of Archeology for Manx National Heritage, in the statement.
The majority of the coins were minted during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Courtesy of Manx National Heritage/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/b8/58/b858785d-d0e3-4776-8138-40638b91d13d/edconf015.jpg)
The Isle of Man is known for its Viking history. Its location in the middle of the Irish Sea made it an ideal place for seafaring Norsemen to establish their post. Vikings arrived on the island in the 9th century to plunder and trade the area before eventually settling. Archaeologists have discovered remains of Viking burial mounds and settlements there, as well as several Norse artifacts.
Kristin Bornholdt CollinsThe world’s leading expert on Viking Age coins studied the collection to learn more about their heritage. She confirmed that they extended from about 1000 to 1065 CE. Many of the coins were minted at various locations in England, including York, London, Lincoln, Cambridge, Hastings, Ipswich and Exeter. Moreover, most of the collection was minted under the reign of Edward the Confessorthe king of England from 1042 to 1066.
“This important hoard was probably assembled in two or more phases, with the earlier English and Irish coins initially deposited together, and the later coins dating to Edward the Confessor added later,” Bornholdt Collins said in the statement.
The coins come from various cities, including York, London, Lincoln, Cambridge, Hastings, Ipswich, Exeter and Dublin. Courtesy of Manx National Heritage/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/b8/26/b826a810-ee85-4152-9966-32b7766f3d76/cnut017.jpg)
Other English coins appear to have been minted during the reign of Canute, a powerful Viking ruler who united England, Denmark and Norway under Norwegian control, forming the so-called North Sea Empire. All Irish coins are minted in Dublin and bear the profile of Sihtric Silkbeard, the Norwegian king of Dublin, who founded one of the city’s first mints and helped lead the intense Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
It appears that the hoard was abandoned sometime just before 1070 CE
“This new treasure can be compared to a wallet containing all kinds of credit cards, banknotes and coins, perhaps of different nationalities, for example when preparing for a trip abroad,” Bornholdt Collins noted in the statement. “Combined, the treasuries provide a rare opportunity to study their contents side by side, down to the details of the dies used to strike the coins.”
She adds: “It is highly unusual to have this very dated comparative material of individual finds.”
