Finland’s largest known Viking Age silver coin hoard was recently discovered in the municipality of Sysma, southern Finland.
The hoard dates to the Viking Age, commonly considered to have lasted from 793 to 1066 in European history. It was discovered near the center of Sysma on Sept. 3 by metal-detecting enthusiast Kalle Lappinen.
The site was inspected the following day, and the hoard was recovered under the direction of Esko Tikkala, an archaeologist with Lahti City Museums.
The museum has confirmed it was the largest Viking Age coin hoard discovered in Finland to date.
In addition to silver coins, the hoard contains a fragment of silver used as payment, a silver bracelet, a silver fitting and a silver bead.
The coins and other objects had been placed in two birch-bark containers and buried about 45 centimeters underground between stones. The two containers were about 12 meters apart.
The coins weigh a total of approximately 4.5 kg. As they have yet to be cleaned, separated or counted, their exact weight and number, as well as their more precise dating, will be determined through further research. The museum said the hoard contains thousands of coins.
Previously, Finland’s largest known Viking Age coin hoard was one discovered in the municipality of Nousiainen, southwestern Finland, in 1895. It contains about 1,700 coins and other objects weighing a total of approximately 2.2 kg, according to Lahti City Museums.
Lappinen, who has pursued metal detecting for years, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle that the hoard was found at one of his regular search sites, an area that had also been explored by other enthusiasts.
Lappinen said the discovery left him in disbelief, noting that most signals picked up while metal detecting turn out to be rubbish or mineral deposits. He immediately reported the find to the Finnish Heritage Agency, whose experts later excavated the entire hoard.
Lahti City Museums serves as the regional museum authority for the Paijat-Hame region in southern Finland, which includes Sysma.