Metal detectorists in Great Britain continue to add to our knowledge of the rich history of the islands. A case in point is this Viking coin hoard found in a field in Wales by a man plying his metal detector. From Ancient Origins comes the following article. (Ed.)
***
28 AUGUST,
2015 - 15:06
About 1,000 years ago an unlucky soul apparently buried his treasure—a
cache of Viking coins—in a field in Wales and never dug it up again. Perhaps
the medieval person died before retrieving it or forgot exactly where it was
buried. The treasure may also have been part of a burial. Whatever the case,
the apparent bad luck of the medieval hoarder turned out to be good luck for a
Welshman with a metal detector.
The hoard includes coins and coin fragment and ingots going back to the
time of King Cnut the Great. Treasure hunter Walter Hanks of Llanllyfni was
using a metal detector in Llandwrog in March when he got a hit, reports Wales Online.
Llandrwrog is in Gwynedd, which was a Welsh kingdom around the time the
coins were buried. The find will help scholars build a better picture of
the 11th century economy of Gwynedd, said Dr. Mark
Redknap of the Department of History and Archaeology at the National Museum
Wales.
![]() |
“Canute Reproving His Courtiers,” an etching by R.E. Pine, depicts a legend told about Canute that says he thought he could stop the tide from rising, but when he could not he hung his crown on a crucifix and never wore it again. (Wikimedia Commons) |
Redknap told Wales Online:‘There are three complete finger-shaped ingots and one fragmentary
finger-shaped metal ingot. Nicking on the sides of the ingots is an
intervention sometimes undertaken in ancient times to test purity, and evidence
that they had been used in commercial transactions before burial. At least four
hoards on the Isle of Man indicate that bullion retained an active role in the
Manx economy from the 1030s to 1060s, and the mixed nature of the Llandwrog
hoard falls into the same category. As such it amplifies the picture we are
building up of the wealth and economy operating in the kingdom of Gwynedd in
the 11th century.’
The hoard includes 14 silver pennies minted in Dublin under the
Irish-Scandinavian king Sihtric Anlafsson, who ruled from 989 to 1036.
Archaeologists say such Irish coins are rarely unearthed on the British
mainland. Eight of these coins were dated 995 AD and six were thought to be
from 1018.
The treasure found by a
Welshman with a metal detector includes silver pennies and coin fragments from
the time of King Cnut of England and Scandinavia. (Wales Online photo)
Researchers told Wales Online they think the coins were deliberately
buried. The Wales Online story does not mention any human bones or remains
found near the coin hoard.
The cache has been declared treasure by northwest Wales Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones. The National Museum Wales did not give a value for the coins, but the museum wants to buy them with financing from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The coins and ingots will be taken to the British Museum for safekeeping in the meantime.
“The independent Treasure Valuation Committee, will commission an expert
valuer to offer their view on current market/collector value and the committee
will consider this, before making their recommendation,” said a museum
spokesman. “Finders and landowners are consulted and are able to offer comment
or commission their own valuations, if they wish. Usually what happens is that
the value is split equally between the finder and the landowner with each
getting 50% of the current market value.”
By Mark Miller