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LiveScience
LiveScience
Tom Metcalfe

Gold coin discovered by a metal detectorist in the UK may have been dropped by a Viking invader from the Great Heathen Army

Gold Charlemagne Alfred England
A close up of a small golden coin, its two faces side by side against a white background with a millimeter ruler below with black and white tick marks.

A gold coin minted more than 1,000 years ago as an imitation of a more famous coin may be a relic of the "Great Heathen Army" that invaded England in 865 — an invasion that led to the Viking kingdom there known as the Danelaw.

According to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which is run by the British Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, a metal detectorist discovered the coin in 2024 in a field near Elsing, a village in Norfolk on England's east coast, which was among the areas first invaded by the Viking army.

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