Denmark, Finland Uncover Record Viking Silver Hoards

A homeowner digging for a terrace in Rebild, northern Denmark, uncovered about 700 Viking Age silver artifacts weighing 18.5 kilograms, making it Denmark’s largest known Viking silver hoard and nearly three times heavier than the previous record. The find includes ingots, bracelets, 47 coins and fragments, cut silver, pendants including a Thor’s hammer, and a runic inscription whose meaning remains uncertain; Anglo-Saxon and Islamic coins point to wide trading links and suggest burial around the 10th century. In Finland, metal-detector enthusiast Kalle Lappinen discovered the country’s largest known Viking Age coin hoard near Sysmä, where thousands of uncleaned coins weigh about 4.5 kilograms. The coins and associated silver objects—including hacksilver, a bracelet, fitting and bead—were buried in two birch-bark containers about 45 centimeters underground and 12 meters apart. Researchers say the Sysmä find surpasses Finland’s previous record, a 2.2-kilogram hoard discovered at Nousiainen in 1895, while further conservation and study will establish the new hoard’s exact count, dates and origins.