Girl Finds 1,000-Year-Old Viking Coins in Denmark with Metal Detector: 'This Is Very Rare'
The coins — believed to be from the 980s — were discovered in a Danish cornfield last autumn
A young girl made a surprising discovery while using a metal detector in Denmark: 1,000-year-old Viking coins.
The rare discovery was made near a Viking castle in northwestern Denmark, a Danish museum said in a press release Thursday.
Within the 300 pieces of silver that were found, around 50 were said to be whole coins. The trove — believed to date back to the 980s — included a mixture of Danish, German and Arab coins, according to archaeologists.
The girl unearthed the silver while using a metal detector in a cornfield last autumn.
"A hoard like this is very rare," Lars Christian Norbach, director of the North Jutland museum where the artifacts will go on display, told Agence France-Presse.
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The coins were found about five miles from the Fyrkat Viking ringfort, near the northern town of Hobro.
As well as the coins, the trove also included two pieces of jewelry originating from Scotland or Ireland, according to archaeologists.
"These are two ornately braided decorated balls on a small piece of cut silver rod, which was originally part of an unusually large ring pin," the museum's press release read. "Such ring pins were especially used by men at the top of society in Viking Age Ireland and on the neighboring islands."
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Norbach said the items were from the same period as the fort — built by King Harald Bluetooth — and would offer a better insight into the history of the Vikings, according to The Guardian.
"The two silver treasures constitute a fantastic story in themselves, but to find them abandoned in a settlement only eight kilometers from Haralds Blåtand's Viking fortress Fyrkat is incredibly exciting," archaeologist and museum inspector at North Jutland Museums, Torben Trier Christiansen, said, according to the release.
Archaeologists have said that they will continue digging at the site next autumn after the harvest. And while they do not believe they will discover any more silver treasures, they hope to find the homes and burial sites of the troves' one-time owners.
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The coins and silver will go on display to the public from July 1 at the Aalborg Historical Museum in Denmark.
As for the young girl who made the discovery, she will also receive financial compensation for her findings, but the amount has not been made public, according to CBS News.
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