Record-breaking Viking Age treasure found in Finland. An amateur metal detectorist, Kalle Lappinen, has found a treasure of thousands of silver coins in Finland. It is the largest Viking Age coin hoard ever discovered in the country.
The hoard, weighing more than four kilograms, contains coins from Sweden, England, and Germany, as well as the Arabic currency, the dirham. Image: Lahden Museum. Kalle Lappinen found the treasure near Sysma’s church village. Signs of settlement from the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages have previously been found in the same area. The hoard consists of silver coins, a silver bracelet, and a silver bead.
The silverware was buried in the ground at a depth of approximately 45 centimeters. The total weight of the money is about 4.5 pounds. The exact weight and quantity will be known after further research.
To date, the largest known Viking Age cash hoards in Finland are the ones found in Nousia in 1895. The discovery weighed approximately 2.2 pounds and contained about 1,700 coins and other objects.
Lappinen has found silver hoards before; in 2017, he found about 30 Arab and Byzantine silver coins, a silver buckle, four silver rings, two bronze spirals, and one silver spiral.
Photo Mika Mokku – Yle, Kalle Lappinen
The metal detector enthusiast couldn’t believe his eyes when dozens of silver coins and pieces of jewelry lay at the bottom of the clay pit. He stood in the field in the middle of Sysma’s centuries-old ice zone, which has been studied for decades. Nevertheless, the metal detector struck something exceptional.
—It was a surprise to him. I hadn’t expected to actually find a silver treasure there. I had already prepared myself for the idea that it would be just some ‘junk’ again, says Lappinen.
1st Photo: Esko Tikkala – Lahti-museum
