A Finnish metal detectorist has uncovered what is believed to be the country's largest known Viking Age silver coin hoard after finding thousands of ancient coins near the village centre of Sysmä. Kalle Lappinen discovered the hoard on September 3, 2026, and reported the find to authorities, allowing archaeologists from Lahti Museums to begin recovering the material the following day. The discovery contains thousands of silver coins weighing about 4.5 kilograms, along with other silver objects. What makes the find particularly unusual is that the treasure was divided between two birch-bark containers buried about 12 metres, or 39 feet, apart. The hoard is preliminarily dated to around AD 1000 to 1050. Once studied, some of the coins were traced to sources as far afield as Sweden, Britain and Germany, with the most distant being dirhams originating from the region of present-day Turkey and Iran.
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