Wielding metal detectors, three amateur archaeologists have unearthed a significant find of 75 large silver coins dating back to the turn of the 17th century, along with fragments of a silver belt, near Orenæs in Falster.
Michael Märcher, a museum inspector and coin expert with the National Museum of Denmark, was impressed by the many coins. In total, they weighed two kilos.
”We are talking about silver coins that were the international hard currency of the 1600s,” Märcher told Ekstra Bladet tabloid. ”The coins date from 1593-1650, and about one third of the coins come from the Netherlands.”
”The treasure resembles many of the silver treasures that were hidden away in Jutland and west Funen during the Dano-Swedish Wars of the late 1650s.”
Field of dreams
It's not the first time that a treasure has been found on the same field in Orenæs. In the 1940s, two silver knife scabbards and two silver belt loops that were worn by well-to-do women of the Renaissance period were also discovered. They are on display at the National Museum of Denmark.
The new find will be on display at the Museet Falsters Minder museum in Nykøbing Falster from March 28.