RENA, Norway – Last month two metal detectorists discovered a trove of more than four thousand coins in a field in Norway’s Østerdalen region in Innlandet County – more than all previously found coin hoards combined.
The coins date from the Viking Age, specifically from the period between the 980s and 1040s CE – a period when Norway’s rulers were converting to Christianity and exerting that influence abroad.
Items from the newly discovered hoard of Viking Age silver age coins in Innlandet County, Norway [Innlandet County Council]
The coins, according to a statement from the Innlandet County Council, are mainly foreign coins, especially English and German, with some Danish and Norwegian specimens. Norway did not have a national mint until the reign of Harald Hardrada, around 1045 CE; coins bearing Harald’s face are among the latest found in this hoard.
Other rulers represented in the find include Cnut the Great, who reigned over a North Sea empire that included England, Denmark, and Norway; the English King Æthelred II “The Unready”; and the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III. The diversity of coins in the hoard speaks to the interconnected commerce of the North Atlantic during the Viking Age.
That commerce likely centered on iron production. “From the 900s through the late 1200s, the region boasted a considerable iron production industry,” notes Artnet News. “As earlier excavations in the surrounding area has shown, ore was extracted from bogs before being worked and exported across Europe. The hoard may well have been accumulated through the fruits of such an enterprise.”
Many of the Icelandic sagas, which were written down several centuries later, center around the formative years surrounding the year 1000 in Norway and Iceland, describing how the Norwegian kings Olaf Tryggvason, Haakon the Good, Harald Greycloak, and St. Olaf converted to and spread Christianity in Norway and sent emissaries to Christianize Iceland. A famous scene in Brennu-Njáls saga depicts a clash between Heathens and Christians at the Althing in 999 or 1000 CE that led to the Icelandic Lawspeaker, Thorgeir Thorkelsson, mediating the dispute by declaring Iceland would convert to Christianity but private Heathen worship would be allowed.
Thus, these coins are from a period of major transition in the Viking world, as Nordic rulers centralized power and engaged in greater commerce, communication, and communion with the Christian rulers elsewhere in Europe.
The last major Norwegian coin hoard was discovered in Trondheim in 1950, according to Svein Gullbekk, an archeologist from the University of Oslo, who spoke with Artnet News. He notes that this hoard is more than four times the size of that one. “The hoard is an absolutely spectacular discovery from the Viking Age in Norway,” said Gullbekk.
Nineteen coins were discovered by Rune Sætre and Vegard Sørlie on April 10th, which led to the greater excavation of the field. The Innlandet County Council complimented Sætre and Sørlie for their cooperation in making sure the find was properly investigated and the site preserved. The council’s statement notes that they did everything right. Sætre and Sørlie had taken courses on proper metal detecting through the County Council. The council says that such cooperation is crucial for preserving cultural heritage.
“Dette er et forbilledlig eksempel på hvordan det bør gjøres,” said May-Tove Smiseth, an archeologist with the Innlandet County Council: “This is a model example of how it should be done.”
Some of the coins have already made their way to the coin collection at Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History, who took over responsibility for the field on May 5th. The site is closed to the public and being guarded as archeologists continue to explore the site in hopes of locating more artifacts.
“I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard about the discovery,” said National Heritage Commissioner Hanna Geiran. “This is both a national and international event, and few things are as exciting as the Viking Age in Norway.”
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