Vikings May Have Made Imitation Gold Dinar Found In Morston, Norfolk – Expert Says

Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – A spectacular gold coin was discovered by a metal detectorist near Morston, Norfolk, in April 2021. It has been declared treasure by a coroner.

According to Professor of Early Medieval English History at Cambridge University, Rory Naismith, it is possible the Vikings made the coin.

Vikings May Have Made Imitation Gold Dinar Found In Morston, Norfolk - Expert Says

The imitation is “a bit ropey” and seems to be made by someone who was unable to get the Arabic right, Rory Naismith said. Credit: Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council

“The Vikings had a lot of contact with the Muslim world,” so it was “plausible” they could have struck imitation dinars. It’s very unusual to find such a thing, and it’s completely unique,” Professor Naismith told the BBC.

The imitation “coin” also has a hole in the middle, indicating that it may have been designed as jewelry.

Professor Naismith said some gold dinars from the Anglo-Saxon period have been found in England, probably arriving via Italy.

“While there are few other imitations that we know of, this one is a bit ropey,” he said.

“It looks like it’s made by someone who knows the generalities of what a dinar looks like, but is not handling them enough to get the Arabic right.”

Vikings May Have Made Imitation Gold Dinar Found In Morston, Norfolk - Expert SaysCredit: Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council

As a result, what should be Arabic script has “degenerated into a series of lines and is completely illegible”.

The coin was “most likely” struck in the second half of the 9th Century, and this put it into the period when the Vikings were active, Professor Naismith explained.

Contact between the Viking and Muslim worlds has been long-established by historical accounts and many dinars have been found in Scandinavian graves.

“So to my mind, there is a very plausible connection” that the coin was a Viking imitation, said Prof Naismith.
However, with no evidence that Arabic traders came to England then, he believes the coin was struck in Scandinavia before being lost in Norfolk.

Vikings May Have Made Imitation Gold Dinar Found In Morston, Norfolk - Expert Says

Credit: Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council

The county was part of the wider area of England ruled under Scandinavian law and customs, known as the Danelaw, which was established following Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great’s AD878 defeat of the Viking Great Army.

The Vikings had made Thetford in Norfolk one of its winter camps.

Prof Naismith said: “The coin is a spectacular find, and I hope it’s acquired by a museum.”

Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

Related Posts

Andalusia Was First Inhabited By Neolithic People From The Southern Part Of The Iberian Peninsula 6,200 Years Ago

Andalusia Was First Inhabited By Neolithic People From The Southern Part Of The Iberian Peninsula 6,200 Years Ago

Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – The island of San Fernando, Cadiz in Andalusia, was home to the first Neolithic farmers and shepherds who decided to permanently settle there around 6,200 years ago. They practised shellfish collection and consumption all year round, with a preference for winter. Location of Campo de Hockey site in southern Iberian […]

Unknown Bronze Age Settlement Discovered Accidently In Heimberg, Switzerland

Unknown Bronze Age Settlement Discovered Accidentally In Heimberg, Switzerland

Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Sometimes, when archaeologists look for one thing, they find something entirely different. This is exactly what happened in Switzerland when researchers were excavating, hoping to find an ancient Roman brick workshop, but they unearthed a previously unknown Bronze Age settlement instead. The excavation in Heimberg, on the right edge of […]

Unexplained Mystery Of The Dangerous Invisible And Unidentifiable Enemy In A French Town

Unexplained Mystery Of The Dangerous Invisible Enemy In A French Town

Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com – It was an ordinary day in a small, sleepy town in France. There were no indications anything strange was about to happen. Yet, an inexplicable and extraordinary event left the unsuspecting residents completely bewildered and unsure of what was unfolding. The situation that unfolded was indeed unusual, if not bizarre. […]

Rare 2,800-Year-Old Assyrian Scarab Amulet Found In Lower Galilee

Rare 2,800-Year-Old ᴀssyrian Scarab Amulet Found In Lower Galilee

Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Erez Avrahamov, a 45-year-old inhabitant of Peduel, made an incredible discovery while hiking in the Tabor Stream Nature Reserve located in Lower Galilee. He stumbled upon an ancient seal shaped like a scarab that dates back to the First Temple period. Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority This ancient artifact is as […]

Dinas Powys: Late ‘Antique Hillfort Phenomenon’ In Post-Roman Western Britain

Dinas Powys: Late ‘Antique Hillfort Phenomenon’ In Post-Roman Western Britain

Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Dinas Powys, Glamorgan, located about 9km southwest of Cardiff, is a small inland fort of approximately 0.35ha. The hillfort was first excavated by a team of archaeologists led by Leslie Alcock from 1954 through to 1958. The site is often referenced as a prime example of elite settlements in post-Roman […]

Puzzling Vasconic Inscription On Ancient Irulegi Hand Resembles Basque Language

Puzzling Vasconic Inscription On Ancient Irulegi Hand Resembles Basque Language

Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – A few years ago, archaeologists excavating an Iron Age site known as Irulegi in northern Spain discovered a flat bronze artifact shaped like a human hand. After careful cleaning, they found it bore inscriptions of words from a Vasconic language. This language family includes Basque and several other languages that […]