Sandur Hoard

The hoard of Sandur, on the island Sandoy that belongs to the Faroe Islands, dates from 1863 and consists of 98 silver coins, which were probably buried 1070-1080. It is the oldest coin hoard in the archipelago.

The coins are now in the Historical Museum of the Faroe Islands in Torshavn and are there to major attractions.

Location and ownership

The discovery of 1863 was a pure coincidence. Gravediggers dug a grave in the cemetery of Sandur, and since the two dead had died of the plague, the grave should be particularly deep.

If there has been a large-scale farmers, the discovery of many coins from Germany suggests that he exported the Faroese wool to get there. Or he sold it to middlemen who in turn paid with these coins.

List of coins

• From England came the following coins: 3 of Aethelred II ( 978-1013 and 1014-1016 )
• 9 of Knut the Great ( 1016-1035 ), one of them was wrong
• 3 of Harold Hasenfuß ( 1035-1040 )
• 8 of Edward the Confessor ( 1042-1066 )
• 1 unidentified forgery

• 2 of Knut III. Hardi Knut (1035 - 1042)
• 1 from the period 1050-1095
• Two counterfeit coins