MORE ON FRENCH COINS FOUND IN POLAND

One theory, promoted by a Polish archaeologist leading the hunt for an explanation, is that the silver coins date from one of Europe's earliest and most traumatic episodes of armed extortion — when an invading Viking army laid siege to Paris in 845, and had to be paid off with more than two tons of silver to prevent it from destroying the city.

The Vikings — Scandinavian warriors greatly feared because of their unruly habits and military prowess — later systematized what became an elaborate protection racket in the 11th century by imposing taxes in England known as Danegeld, tribute payments in return for safety.

What happened to the huge ransom they received for sparing Paris in 845, however, has always been a mystery.

The Vikings had a major trading post called Truso just 30 miles from Biskupiec, the Polish village where the coins were found. That has led some experts to speculate that the silver extorted in Paris made its way there and then spread into nearby areas as part of a flourishing Baltic-region trade, whose main commodity was slaves.

This is an exceedingly rare and surprising find, said Lukasz Szczepanski, the head of archaeology at a regional history museum in the Polish town of Ostroda. We previously only knew what happened in Paris from written sources, but now, suddenly, we have it in a physical form.

Others are skeptical. Simon Coupland, a British expert, noted that the coins found in Biskupiec seemed to date from several years before the 845 siege.

But, he added, they could be part of the booty extracted by the Vikings during earlier attacks on the western part of the empire established by Charlemagne, or simply the proceeds of regular trading and raiding by the Vikings.

Mr. Szczepanski acknowledged that his theory that the coins were part of the ransom the Vikings extorted to spare Paris was merely a working hypothesis.

A clearer picture, he said, would emerge after a chemical analysis of the coins and a full excavation of the site where they were discovered by the local treasure hunter, Przemyslaw Witkowski, and a fellow scavenger, Maciej Malewicz.

To read the complete article, see:
Medieval French Coins Unearthed in Poland? A Mystery Begins (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/12/world/europe/medieval-french-coins-poland.html)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CAROLINGIAN SILVER COIN HOARD FOUND IN POLAND (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n25a26.html)

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