The small silver coin was found near the Hungarian village of Várdomb. It dates to between 1046 and 1066 and is inscribed with the name of the Norwegian king.Image credit: Tamás Retkes
Posted on 06/21/2022 7:59:50 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Side by side images of the front and back of the small silver Viking coin that was found. It looks very worn, but on one side you can make out the triquetra in the middle and writing going around the edge. The next image shows the other side of the coin. It is very worn but you can make out some small circles in the top left and bottom right as well as 2 lines going down the middle and writing around the edge.
A metal detectorist has discovered a small silver coin marked with the name of a famous Viking king. However, it was unearthed not in Scandinavia, but in southern Hungary, where it was lost almost 1,000 years ago.
The find has baffled archaeologists, who have struggled to explain how the coin might have ended up there — it's even possible that it arrived with the traveling court of a medieval Hungarian king.
The early Norwegian coin, denominated as a "penning," was not especially valuable at the time, even though it's made from silver, and was worth the equivalent of around $20 in today's money...
The Várdomb site holds the remains of the medieval settlement of Kesztölc, one of the most important trading towns in the region at that time. Archaeologists have made hundreds of finds there, including dress ornaments and coins, Varga said.
There is considerable evidence of contact between medieval Hungary and Scandinavia, including Scandinavian artifacts found in Hungary and Hungarian artifacts found in Scandinavia that could have been brought there by trade or traveling craftsmen, Varga said.
But this is the first time a Scandinavian coin has been found in Hungary, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
The small silver coin was found near the Hungarian village of Várdomb. It dates to between 1046 and 1066 and is inscribed with the name of the Norwegian king.Image credit: Tamás Retkes
I was expecting a Brett Favre on the head of the coin.
There is a drawing of this penny on Harald Hardraada’s Wikipedia page.
I’m a little surprised to learn Vikings had coins of their own.
I thought they were too much into plundering others to mint coins.
Adjusting stereotype now to horned plunderers who mint coins.
Keep adjusting your stereotypes - their helmets didn’t have horns!
There are a surprising number of really old silver coins easily available
(and even more fakes)
I have some of each.
I want one.
lol- i was thinking something like that too-
Prob the same one is shown in the article as well.
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/juznaFdmWSf6MBavxpPtn7.jpg
So what is the name of this Norwegian King? Is it King Harald the fair-haired? According to my father we’re related. Where’s my inheritance?
Contrary to the horned-helmet plunderers the Vikings developed extensive trade routes, especially in Russia along the Volga River.
Unique Viking shipyard discovered at Birka
Date: June 15, 2022
Source: Stockholm University
Summary: Archaeologists have located a unique Viking Age shipyard site at Birka on Björkö in Lake Mälaren. The discovery challenges previous theories about how the maritime activities of the Viking Age were organized.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220615211314.htm
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