Viking-Era Coin Hoard Found in Norway

A couple searching with metal detectors in Åmot, Norway, uncovered nearly 5000 silver coins from the mid-1000s. The find represents the largest Viking-age coin hoard in Norwegian history. Kjetil Loftsgarden, project leader and associate professor at the Museum of Cultural History, suggests a wealthy local farmer buried the coins around 1046 or 1047, using the land as a sort of bank.

Loftsgarden bases this theory on evidence that Østerdalen valley was not impoverished during the Viking age. Farmers there profited from iron production and exported it to Europe, receiving silver coins in return. The hoard exceeds the combined size of four previously known major Viking coin finds.

Svein Harald Gullbekk, a numismatics professor, agrees with Loftsgarden’s assessment, noting that 95% of the coins originate from England and Germany. Determining the exact value of the coins in Viking-era terms remains difficult, as no Norwegian valuations from that period exist. Archaeologists plan to resume excavations in the autumn, believing more coins may still lie buried.