Metal detector enthusiast Kalle Lappinen got the kind of signal hobbyists dream about while treasure hunting near the village center of Sysmä, Finland, earlier this month. Beneath the soil was a Viking Age hoard containing thousands of silver coins and jewelry — a remarkable bounty weighing about 10 pounds and now recognized as the largest of its kind ever found in Finland.
Sysmä is about 105 miles northeast of Helsinki, and Lappinen was searching in an area he knew well when his detector delivered an extraordinary signal. As he began digging, his handheld probe “roared,” he told The New York Times.
“With the fury of a monkey, I dug through the soil, bottom moraine and cobblestones,” Lappinen recalled. About 18 inches below the surface, he uncovered what he described as “a pile of coins.”
After he had “recovered from the adrenaline rush,” he reported the discovery to authorities.
Then came an astonishing encore.
Not far from the first find, Lappinen’s detector sounded again. He dug a second hole and discovered another concentration of silver. Archaeologists from Lahti City Museums arrived the following day and recovered the artifacts under the direction of archaeologist Esko Tikkala.
The treasure is actually a kind of “double hoard.” The silver had been divided between two birch-bark containers buried about 12 meters, or 39 feet, apart.
The collection includes thousands of silver coins, plus a fragment of hacksilver — silver used as a form of payment — a silver bracelet, a silver fitting or mount, and a silver bead. The coins alone weigh approximately 4.5 kilograms, or nearly 10 pounds. Because the coins have not yet been cleaned, separated or counted, researchers have not established their exact number, although estimates put the total at more than 4,000.
The coins are preliminarily dated to between AD 1000-1050, placing the hoard near the end of the Viking Age. The collection also reflects the remarkably far-reaching silver economy of the era, with coins originating from areas that are now Sweden, Britain and Germany, along with Islamic dirhams from regions that are now part of Turkey and Iran.
The discovery easily surpasses Finland’s previous record, a hoard found at Nousiainen in 1895 containing approximately 1,700 coins and other objects weighing about 2.2 kilograms.
Why someone buried so much silver — and never returned for it — remains a mystery. It may have been a merchant’s savings or wealth hidden for safekeeping during a turbulent period.
Lappinen will likely receive substantial compensation for his record-breaking discovery.
For items made of precious metals, the Finnish Heritage Agency sets a statutory redemption price equal to at least the current market value of the raw metal plus a 25% bonus.
Credit: Photo by Esko Tikkala, courtesy of Lahti City Museums.