{"id":114374,"date":"2026-06-23T05:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/114374\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T05:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:32:13","slug":"some-of-the-earliest-viking-pennies-were-made-with-melted-down-islamic-coins-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/114374\/","title":{"rendered":"Some of the earliest Viking pennies were made with melted-down Islamic coins, study says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers have discovered that some of the earliest Viking “pennies” were created using silver recycled from Islamic coins.<\/p>\n

Their analysis of a Viking Age hoard from Denmark suggests the metal used in the pennies reached Scandinavia through extensive trade links, according to reporting from Live Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/p>\n

In a study<\/a> published in the peer-reviewed journal Archaeometry, researchers looked at a hoard of 266 Viking coins found in southern Denmark, near Damhus.<\/p>\n

Dating to 830-850 CE, the Damhus hoard includes 266 silver coins uncovered in 2018, making it among the earliest Viking hoards ever found.<\/p>\n

In all but four of the coins, on one side, a face thought to depict Wodan, also known as Odin, appears on one side, and a stag can be found on the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thomas Birch, the study’s lead author and an archaeologist at the National Museum of Denmark, told<\/a> Live Science that the coins were worth far more than a modern penny simply because of their silver content. Just one of these coins would suffice to purchase a tool or a meal.<\/p>\n

Birch and his colleagues think the site of the discovery, once a major Viking settlement, may have served as a mint and produced hundreds of thousands of coins.<\/p>\n

After examining some of the coins with X-ray fluorescence, along with other analytical methods, the researchers concluded<\/a> that some were made from silver jewelry and coins from the Islamic world that had been melted down and reused.<\/p>\n

Why does it matter?<\/p>\n

The discovery offers an example of an early circular economy<\/a>, with valuable metal being reused rather than discarded, then transported across vast trade routes before being turned into new currency.<\/p>\n

The finding suggests the Viking world was connected to a broad commercial network linking Scandinavia with the Islamic world, rather than the Vikings solely relying on raiding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The research also suggests that imported silver was not just arriving in small quantities but was likely helping drive large-scale minting in Denmark.<\/p>\n

Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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