June 27, 2024. Over 260,000 Viking-era coins have been discovered in Sweden, predominantly German, Arabic, and English. Major collections are housed in the Economic Museum – Royal Coin Cabinet, Gotland Museum, and Lund University’s Historical Museum, though many are only in analog catalogs. Parts of these collections are now beeing made available for research through Swedigarch’s infrastructure for digital archaeology. In 2024, the coin finds from Birka, Sweden’s first trade center with extensive European and Eastern contacts, will be made available digitally. This collection includes nearly 1,100 coins, primarily Islamic, with significant Nordic, rare Byzantine, and a few Carolingian coins, plus some forgeries. Additionally, the intact Viking-era Stumle Hoard from Gotland, found in 1989, containing 1,310 coins, will also be included. This hoard provides crucial insights into Viking trade practices, showing that long-distance trade trips were infrequent. Linking these finds with other digital archaeological data such as geodata and data from different analyses will enhance accessibility and research potential.
Find out more in the National Histiorical Museums’ collection blog (in Swedish).