Sensational coin discovery: “We have found a national treasure”
Researchers have found an extremely rare coin in the Mørstad Hoard, Norway’s largest coin hoard from the Viking Age.
An extremely rare coin from the reign of Olaf the Holy has been found in the Mørstad Hoard.(Photo: Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty / Museum of Cultural History)
But then she read what was written on it: ONLAF R+ NORMANORV.
“Could I really be holding an Olaf Haraldsson coin in my hands? And it turned out that I actually was!” Skogsfjord says in a press release from the Museum of Cultural History.
Only 20 coins issued by Olaf Haraldsson – Olaf the Holy himself – have been found, and most of them were discovered outside Norway.
Annonse
Only four examples of the type now found in the Mørstad Hoard have previously been discovered, with just one of them in Norway.
“It was a special moment, and I realised that we had found a national treasure,” says the archaeologist.
Anne Skogsfjord has been working on cataloguing the coins from the Mørstad Hoard since the summer. Here, she is holding an English coin issued by Cnut the Great.(Photo: Tea Kristiansen / Museum of Cultural History)
Close to the king
Olaf the Holy was king of Norway from 1015 to 1028.
According to the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia, he was 'without doubt the most significant of the Norwegian kings during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages.'
He played an important role in the introduction of Christianity. He died at the Battle of Stiklestad, but lived on as Norway's patron saint after his death.
The Olaf Haraldsson coin depicts the king in profile, wearing a conical battle helmet. ONLAF R+ NORMANORV is written around the image. It means Olaf, king of the Norwegians.
On the reverse side of the coin, there is a cross and a Christian tribute.
There are few archaeological and historical sources that can actually be linked to the king, the archaeologists at the Museum of Cultural History point out. But the coins – they were closely connected to him.
“Olaf Haraldsson himself decided what these coins should look like, and perhaps he was there when they were struck,” says Svein H. Gullbekk.
He is a professor of numismatics – in other words, a coin expert – at the Museum of Cultural History.
“It is actually possible that the coin we have found was held in the king’s own hand,” he says.
Political branding in the 11th century
Gullbekk told Science Norway this spring that the only thing that could make the coin experts more enthusiastic was if more Harald Hardrada coins were found in the hoard, or an Olaf Tryggvason penny minted between 995 and 998 – Norway’s first coin.
Annonse
But then, for the time being, what turned up instead was a coin from Olaf the Holy.
The Museum of Cultural History calls the discovery a sensation.
“This is a coin commemorating Christianisation on a grand scale. We can see how King Olaf uses the coinage to legitimise the new faith, and to legitimise himself as a Christian king of European standing,” says Gullbekk.
Coin expert Svein H. Gullbekk.(Photo: Tea Kristiansen / Museum of Cultural History)
“This is branding,” says Gullbekk.
The coin was struck between 1024 and 1028, as the Viking Age was drawing to a close.
It probably changed hands several times during the 20–25 years it was in circulation before being buried at what is now the Mørstad farm in Eastern Norway. Researchers can see several traces of small cuts made with a knife on both sides of the coin. This was a way of checking the silver content during payments.
Painting of Olaf the Holy from 1893. The painting is on an altar in the Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso in Rome.(Illustration: Pius Welonsky (1893), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
“Spectacular”
“Yes, this is a national treasure,” says Jon Anders Risvaag.
He is a numismatist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
“Finding an Olaf Haraldsson coin is like finding a needle in a haystack. There are so few of them,” he says.
The coins of Olaf Haraldsson and Olaf Tryggvason did not serve an economic function in the same way. They were therefore few in number, Risvaag explains. These coins were about demonstrating status.
"It's someone pulling out all the stops and showing that he can do what people do abroad. It's a demonstration of kingship," says Risvaag.
"We were very impressed when Harald Hardrada coins turned up, providing an early date of around 1047. But the fact that a coin from Olaf the Holy has also emerged is quite spectacular," he says.
At the time of writing, the Mørstad Hoard contains just over 5,500 coins. The work of documenting and cataloguing them will take more than a year.
