German archaeologists have discovered 1,200-year-old silver coins buried in a northern German field, which they believe were minted in modern day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa.
A team of volunteers working with regional authorities and the University of Greifswald found 82 coin fragments and coins, the oldest of which dates back to the year 610 and the most recent one to approximately 820 CE.
Archaeologists working in a field near Anklam in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania found the collection at the end of August, and have now successfully dated the pieces.
Amateur archaeologist Peter Dachner, who found the first engraved coin near the town of Anklam, described it as a "masterpiece of design." He is one of a team of volunteers, working with regional authorities and the University of Greifswald.
Searching a 20 by 25 meter stretch of land in the northern German town of Anklam, the team also unearthed a silver bracelet and three bars of silver.
The site of the discovery is located near a Viking settlement, which once enabled trade to the East and the West.
The coins would have lost their monetary value so far from their place of origin, but would have been used to trade as pieces of silver, and even have been in some cases cut into pieces. It is estimated that the 200 grams of silver in the coins would have been traded for four oxen or even a human slave. |
