INTL A German Man Just Learning How to Use a Metal Detector Uncovered a Hoard of Buried Byzantine Jewelry and Silver Coins

[packyderms_wife]

A German Man Just Learning How to Use a Metal Detector Uncovered a Hoard of Buried Byzantine Jewelry and Silver Coins​

The discovery was made in what once was a Viking Age trade settlement.

Min Chen, March 15, 2023

One of the gold earrings with semi-precious gems in the Byzantine style. Photo: ALSH.

A 800-year-old cache of gold jewelry and silver coins was discovered in northern Germany. And where there’s newly unearthed gold, there’s quite likely an amateur metal detectorist who located it.

Nicki Andreas Steinmann was a trainee learning how to use a metal detector with an instructor when, while walking a tract of land close to Hedeby and Danewerk World Heritage Site in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the pair stumbled upon gold artifacts and coins. Once unearthed, the hoard, as indicated by the coins found stacked upon one another, looked to have been buried all at once.

Nicki Andreas Steinmann, the trainee metal detectorist, with his discovery. Photo: ALSH.

The detectorists reported their find in late February to the State Archaeological Department of Schleswig-Holstein (ALSH), which conducted the analysis of the artifacts.

“The hoard consisted of two very high quality gold earrings set with semi-precious stones, a gilded pseudo-coin brooch, two gilded stone-studded finger rings, a ring fragment, a small formerly gilded perforated disc, a ring brooch, and about 30 silver coins, some of them heavily fragmented,” Ulf Ickerodt, the director of ALSH, told Live Science.

One of the gold earrings with semi-precious gems in the Byzantine style. Photo: ALSH.

The team has dated the two earrings, surprisingly well-preserved, to around 1100 due to their apparent Byzantine style and craftsmanship. One of the brooches is also an imitation of an Islamic gold dinar, dating it to the Almohad caliphate between the 12th and 13th centuries.

The 30 coins are linked to the reign of Valdemar II, the Danish king who ruled from 1170 to 1241. Fragments of fabric found with the coins suggest that they were once buried in a bag.

The gold brooch designed as an imitation Almohad gold dinar. Photo: ALSH.

That the stash should contain Mediterranean jewelry and Danish currency makes sense for the area of Hedeby, once a Viking Age trading hub.

“An extensive north-south and east-west trade network developed here since the early Middle Ages, in which the Mediterranean region, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea were integrated,” explained Ickerodt.

Some of the Danish coins, some fragmented. Photo: ALSH.

In fact, the archaeologists speculate that the hoard, whether it contains personal possessions or stolen property, could have been buried hastily when Hebedy was sacked and destroyed in 1066. “Especially in times of crisis, the resulting danger leads to the hiding of possessions,” Ickerodt added. “The hoard was certainly not put down by chance.”
Its resurfacing, though, is another matter.

A German Man Just Learning How to Use a Metal Detector Uncovered a Hoard of Buried Byzantine Jewelry and Silver Coins | Artnet News

A 800-year-old hoard of gold jewelry and silver coins was discovered in northern Germany by a trainee metal detectorist.

news.artnet.com

 

[Blacknarwhal]

The government will be along directly to take every drop of it. Here's your special EU Fun Bucks coupon pack for turning it in like a good citizen.

 

[bw]

Never heard of a trainee metal detectorist. You get a metal detector and go mess with it. Only in Germany would they have schools. Probably have certification levels too. And forms to fill out.

 

[Txkstew]

There was an old rotted down house on our hunting lease. You could see a smashed down TV with vacuum tubes. I'd have liked to run a metal detector around that place. Might have found some 90% US coins. I've heard you should look around where the people parked their cars. People lose coins pulling their keys out of a pocket.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Never heard of a trainee metal detectorist. You get a metal detector and go mess with it. Only in Germany would they have schools. Probably have certification levels too. And forms to fill out.

There's a show on Acorn TV called The Detectorists, check it out!

 

[Blacknarwhal]

There was an old rotted down house on our hunting lease. You could see a smashed down TV with vacuum tubes. I'd have liked to run a metal detector around that place. Might have found some 90% US coins. I've heard you should look around where the people parked their cars. People lose coins pulling their keys out of a pocket.

Read a story in Reminisce a while back about a kid who liked to go down to some kind of public hall where there were dances on Saturdays. He'd go out Sunday morning and sniff around the parking lot for loose change. Seldom was a day he didn't find something; once he managed to land a $10 bill, and back then, that was a big deal.

 

[Carl2]

I worked with a guy who would use a waterproof metal detector while wearing a wet suit and search beaches, lakes and streams where people swam. He had Mason jars full of gold rings he had found. It seems cold water causes people's fingers to shrink. . . He showed me a 19th Century $5 gold coin he had found.

 

[Dozdoats]

Beginner's luck.

Gold does not tarnish or corrode, but silver does. Don't bury unprotected silver in the ground ... PVC pipe and end caps are cheap and at least as good as an amphora. Stick with smaller diameters, even silver gets heavy fast. I once filled a .50 ammo can with rolled silver dimes and quarters, now that I am old I can barely move it.

 

[dstraito]

I always like treasure hunting like looking for artifacts in the Sahara.

 

[cowboy]

It does take a lot of practice just to pinpoint junk. But then once the mine field is cleared the good stuff starts appearing.

 

[Signwatcher]

I find this highly ironic. My Dad, God rest his soul, was ALWAYS detecting for such a find as this.

It was his retirement hobby. He found a lot of neat stuff and a TON of junk.

This guy starts at the top. It's most likely all downhill from this find.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

It does take a lot of practice just to pinpoint junk. But then once the mine field is cleared the good stuff starts appearing.

Over there they have to worry about actual mines and other explody things too.

 

[zeker]

Read a story in Reminisce a while back about a kid who liked to go down to some kind of public hall where there were dances on Saturdays. He'd go out Sunday morning and sniff around the parking lot for loose change. Seldom was a day he didn't find something; once he managed to land a $10 bill, and back then, that was a big deal.

I was leaving the grocery store last week

as I left the door, I looked down

and there was $20 bill

I wasnt 1 min from leaving the cash register so i turned around and handed it to the owner of the store.

he said"it aint mine, its yours"

I told him if somebody comes in looking for a lost 20

to send them to me.

I dont need the $$, but its nice to find

 

[BUBBAHOTEPT]

I need a new hobby…

 

[zeker]

Beginner's luck.

Gold does not tarnish or corrode, but silver does. Don't bury unprotected silver in the ground ... PVC pipe and end caps are cheap and at least as good as an amphora. Stick with smaller diameters, even silver gets heavy fast. I once filled a .50 ammo can with rolled silver dimes and quarters, now that I am old I can barely move it.

I can help you with that, old timer

 

[packyderms_wife]

I need a new hobby…

Same!

 

[Dozdoats]

I can still do it, with both hands

 

[TKO]

There was an old rotted down house on our hunting lease. You could see a smashed down TV with vacuum tubes. I'd have liked to run a metal detector around that place. Might have found some 90% US coins. I've heard you should look around where the people parked their cars. People lose coins pulling their keys out of a pocket.

Very true. But, I have also detected some great finds in the woods near old homes. My finds are usually good around old school playgrounds where children lose their silver charms. I keep all that stuff in a jar and have collected a lot of silver charms over the years.

 

[Dozdoats]

Mother Earth keeps her secrets well-

Hordes of Hoards: Some Recent and Classic Finds of Ancient Coins

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ..... It has been said that archaeology stands on a foundation of potsherds, and it would be just as

coinweek.com

 

[cowboy]

It is good exercise, as well as a good time to practice any Dowsing skills. You get to meet a few other spirits, from time to time.

 

[Wildweasel]

Very true. But, I have also detected some great finds in the woods near old homes. My finds are usually good around old school playgrounds where children lose their silver charms. I keep all that stuff in a jar and have collected a lot of silver charms over the years.

I worked with a guy who would detect on base in the areas used in WWII, like the old PX, movie theater and canteen locations. Places where change would be handled by people. He was always finding old silver coins and steel pennies from WWII and he hit a spot heavy with items from WWI on Ft Dix.

 

[Jeep]

The government will be along directly to take every drop of it. Here's your special EU Fun Bucks coupon pack for turning it in like a good citizen.

Spain will claim it as theirs. It worked before, why not now!!