Metal Detectorists Unearth 1,000-Year-Old Viking Coins on a Small Island in the Irish Sea

A collection of 1,000-year-old Viking Age coins has just been discovered on the Isle of Man—a small British crown dependency located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.

Two men, John Crowe and David O’Hare, were on the island metal detecting last May when they uncovered the lucky find. The collection includes 36 silver coins—some whole, some fragmented. This week, Manx National Heritage, an organization that protects the natural and cultural heritage of the Isle of Man, announced that Rebecca Cubbon, the Isle of Man Deputy Coroner of Inquests, examined the impressive artifacts and declared them as official treasure.

“This is a wonderful find which helps further our understanding of the complex Viking Age economy in the Isle of Man, where more Viking Age silver has been discovered per square kilometer than in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales,” says Allison Fox, Curator for Archaeology for Manx National Heritage, in the statement.

The Isle of Man is known for its Viking history. Its location in the center of the Irish Sea made it an ideal spot for seafaring Norsemen to post up. Vikings arrived on the island in the 9th century to raid and trade in the area, before eventually settling. Archaeologists have discovered remains of Viking burial mounds and settlements there, as well as various Norse artifacts.

Kristin Bornholdt Collins, the world’s leading expert in Viking Age coins, studied the collection to learn more about their heritage. She confirmed that they span from around 1000 to 1065 C.E. Many of the coins were minted in different locations around England, including York, London, Lincoln, Cambridge, Hastings, Ipswich and Exeter. What's more, the majority of the collection was minted under the reign of Edward the Confessor, the king of England from 1042 to 1066.  

“This important hoard was likely assembled in two or more stages, with the earlier English and Irish coins deposited together in the first instance, and the later coins dating to Edward the Confessor added later,” Bornholdt Collins says in the statement.

Others English coins appear to have been minted during the reign of Canute, a powerful Viking ruler who united England, Denmark and Norway under Norse control, forming what is known as the North Sea Empire. All of the Irish coins were minted in Dublin and feature the profile of Sihtric Silkbeard, the Norse king of Dublin, who established one of the city's earliest mints and helped lead the intense Battle of Clontarf in 1014.

It seems that the hoard was abandoned sometime just before 1070 C.E.

“This new hoard might be compared to a wallet containing all kinds of credit cards, notes and coins, perhaps of different nationalities, such as when you prepare to travel overseas,” Bornholdt Collins notes in the statement. “Combined, the hoards provide a rare chance to study the contents side by side, right down to the detail of the dies used to strike the coins.”

She adds, “Having this much closely dated comparative material from separate finds is highly unusual.”

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.