Posted on 03/15/2023 11:08:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
In Hoogwoud, a city in the Netherlands, a 27-year-old historian named Lorenzo Ruijter struck medieval gold with his metal detector.
More specifically, he found four crescent-moon-shaped gold pendant earrings, two gold leaf pieces that fit together, and thirty-nine small, precious silver coins, all from the Middle Ages, the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities announced.
The museum dates the gold treasure back to roughly A.D. 1050.
Ruijter has been metal detecting for most of his life and now it's paid off big time.
"It was very special discovering something this valuable, I can't really describe it. I never expected to discover anything like this," Ruijter said
The exact date of burial can pinpointed, thanks to the coins. "The youngest copies were struck in 1247 or 1248, under William II as king of the Holy Roman Empire," at which time the jewelry would have been roughly 200 years old.
The museum states that the jewelry must have been a much-loved object of its owner, given its rarity and beauty. "Golden jewelry from the High Middle Ages is extremely rare in the Netherlands," the museum said.
While it will remain a mystery why exactly the treasure was buried, the museum pointed out there was a war raging between Dutch regions West Friesland and Holland in the middle of the 13th century, with Hoogwoud being the epicentre. Thus, it's reasonable to believe that someone buried the valuables in order to protect them, with the intention of returning to dig them up later.
The treasure trove is currently on display at the museum, but will remain the official property of Lorenzo Ruijter.
PinGGG!............................
Kewl -
Awesome...
Good for him!
The article doesn’t say exactly where in that city he found these items. How deeply were they buried, so that they remained unseen all this time? Those pieces are in remarkable condition, unless they are very small pieces, and easily concealed from erosion.
Can he sell these, or otherwise pocket some personal cash,
or is the ‘fame’ supposed to be sufficient benefit?
Glad to see they didn’t confiscate it from him.
That’s a fine honor, but still, No Dinero!
Maybe there is a Dutch equivalent of ebay where he could sell them, or trade some for beer.
Today at my recently departed MIL’s home, I gave my wife a box of papers to look through and she found 50 euros.
We then went to a shoe store that had its last sales day before shutting down.
We bought pinkish leather boots for our daughter that only cost 10 euros (75% off plus another 20% off).
After our daughter tried them on and confirmed she really like them... I asked her to guess who bought those boots.
Then I quickly said Oma and told her about the found money.
“Those pieces are in remarkable condition, unless they are very small pieces, and easily concealed from erosion.”
Well, gold doesn’t corrode, so it’s not uncommon for gold ornaments to be the best preserved items in any kind of find. I can’t imagine they were buried too deeply, considering that the water table in the Netherlands is usually not that far below the ground.
This is likely plunder. Someone stole it, and hid it. And did not live long enough to retrieve it.
Be extra careful about books she may have had.
Look thru them and hold the spine up and shake. You may find more money hidden in them.
Old folks tend to hide money in books for hard times..................
That’s what I think as well...................
Wow...what a find.
All I ever find are old beer pull tabs and bottle tops................
So how much is it worth?
Priceless.....................
Thanks. That’s good information. So gold does not get old.
Color me SHOCKED!
Finders keepers in the Netherlands?..........Not like the UK............
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