Posted on 04/28/2008 2:47:11 PM PDT by blam
Boy, 9, and grandfather find medieval silver treasure in Sweden
Posted : Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:36:04 GMT
Author : DPA
Stockholm - A 9-year-old boy's search for shrapnel on an old battlefield resulted in a huge find of medieval silver coins near the Lund in southern Sweden, local media reported Monday. Alexander Granhof, 9, and his grandfather made the recent discovery, dubbed "silverado" by archaeologists.
"We went out on the field looking for cannonballs," Alexander Granhof told the online edition of the Sydsvenskan newspaper.
"I found a piece of metal and thought at first it was shrapnel from a shotgun. I shouted to grandfather and then we discovered more and more coins," he added.
In all, the pair found more than 4,600 coins on the field. Archaeologists, using metal detectors, boosted the tally to 7,000 but did not rule out that even more coins were hidden in the soil.
"This is incredible," Bernd Gerlach of the Lund University Historical Museum told reporters.
Both Alexander and his grandfather Jens Granhof are interested in archaeology and went treasure hunting after reading about a treasure buried somewhere in the province of Scania.
No reward sum has yet been determined but the silver in the treasure alone was estimated to be worth 1.5 million kronor (250,000 dollars).
During the 13th century when the coins were hidden, the sum could have fetched some 15 serfs, museum head Per Karsten said.
The coins had been placed in two urns that were wrapped in cloth. The treasure was likely buried during troubled times, and one theory was that the coins were church taxes collected from nearby farms.
The find included thousands of English coins with a high silver content and some other markers that likely were used locally.
GGG Pings.
Very cool!
Great story! I bet grandpa was already the boy’s hero for taking him on the artifact adventure, the treasure just sealed the deal.
How benificent of the state. How about this: The kid keeps it all and decides which charity to bestow some fraction of it?
LINK with more info.
two things - 1.) Great thing for a gramps and his grandson to share in the memories....thier bonds are tight Im sure....
2.) leave it to government to rob people of joy, for the benefit of the state, creating what Im guessing are two very disappointed and disillusioned people
they should be able to keep it
Very cool.
Excellent, thanks.
In England they have some pretty good rules I think to promote treasure hunting. The govt. museum types look at the find and if they think it is museum quality will keep it and reimburse the finder the full value. If they don’t think it is museum quality the finder can keep it. (Or something like that - but they want to promote treasure seeking.) I’m not sure what the rules are pertaining to the landowner rights and the treasure hunter. I would imagine that the hunter would have a contract of sorts and ask permission, with maybe a percentage of any antiquities found to be given to the landowner.
Depressing!
Why should government get any of this find?
Walk in the fields: free
Finding a treasure with Grampa: priceless!!!
The landowner gets a cut of the government money too.
From what I've read, everyone involved in this process has been satisfied with their cut of the proceeds.
Yeah - I hope it is similar in Sweden. By the way - could you add me to your GGG pings? I always find them very interesting.
Swedes Find Viking-Era Arab Coins [different hoard]
BBC | 4-4-2008
Posted on 04/04/2008 7:50:12 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996676/posts
Buddha statue from 6th c found in Viking hoard in Helgo, Sweden
Biblical Archaeology Review | March/April 2005 | “Worldwide” editor
Posted on 04/26/2005 11:26:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1391864/posts
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Gods |
Thanks Blam. Middle Ages "Serf's up" ping! |
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WOW!
Wish this could have happened to me!!!
Hope pictures of this show up soon.
What a find!
#6 Thanks for the photos!
What a lucky, cute kid.
Man, my ancestors sure got around before Olaf converted to Christianity and spoiled the party.
;-)
You’re welcome.
And I thought this was a great story.
A nine year old boy finding a real buried treasure with his grandfather is fantastic.
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