The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 39, September 30, 2007, Article 24

SWEDISH FIND OF VIKING HOARD INCLUDES COINS OF KING OLOF SKÖTKONUNG

A Viking cache of silver coins recently discovered in Sweden
included an extremely rare coin... minted for Olof Skötkonung,
an ancient Swedish king. The hoard also included coins from
present-day Iraq and Uzbekistan, demonstrating the breadth of
the Vikings' trade networks.

"A thousand-year-old Viking treasure trove has been dug up in
a garden in Sweden, archaeologists report. The hoard of silver
coins from Europe, central Asia, and the Middle East was unearthed
earlier this month by a gardener tending his vegetable patch on
the Baltic island of Gotland (see Sweden map).So far 69 coins
dating from the late 900s and early 1000s have been found, said
archaeologist Dan Carlsson of Gotland University.The find
contains rare early Viking money and foreign currency from
present-day England, Germany, Ireland, Iraq, and Uzbekistan.

"Gareth Williams, curator of early medieval coinage at the
British Museum in London, said the concentration of early
medieval coins in Gotland is 'remarkable.' 'We've got more
surviving late Anglo-Saxon coins from Gotland than we have
from Britain, despite the fact it's not a very big island
and quite a way away,' he added.

"The newfound hoard, buried some 1,300 feet (400 meters) from
the site of an ancient Viking settlement, also includes highly
unusual coins minted for Olof Skötkonung, a regional Swedish
king, Carlsson said. 'He was the first king that minted coins
in Sweden,' he said. 'He obviously learned [coin-making] from
England,' he added. 'Many of the coins are copies of English
coins, most of all Ethelred coins.' Ethelred II was England's
monarch from 978 to 1016."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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