ARCHAEOLOGISTS have stumbled upon a hoard of extremely valuable silver coins worth $170,000 on a tiny island.
Experts from the Jönköping County Museum located the rare find on the Swedish island of Visingsö.
Visingsö is located in the southern half of Lake Vättern, which during the 12th and 13th century was the seat of the Swedish monarchy.
Archaeologists unearthed 170 silver coins at the town’s Brahe Church after prior excavations revealed what remained of two burials.
The currency is believed to have been in circulation from 1150 to 1180 and are of the bracteate type, according to a press announcement by the Jönköping County Museum.
A bracteate is an extremely thin piece of metal would be placed over a soft backing material.
“It is rare that finds are made in Christian graves, that custom belongs to prehistoric times and that makes the Visingsö find very special,” said a representative from the Jönköping County Museum.
FINDING RARE COINS
While for many, coin collection is not about the money, some have made it big on rare coins.
One California resident inherited a bag of coins from his parents.
The rare 1917/1918 nickel had two dates printed on it, making it worth much more than its five-cent face value.
It was valued at $17,250.
While some rare coins like the nickel have designs that can be hard to spot in pocket change, others are more obviously rare.
One 1829 coin recently sold for $3.8 million, thanks to its curious history.
“Mule” errors, coins with a pair of designs that aren’t meant to be together, can be worth extra money.
A coin worth $2,000 was recently found in a Salvation Army donation kettle.
HISTORIC FINDS
The U.S. Sun reported how a coin collector found rare 1982 dimes that contained a missing mark.
The currency featured former President Franklin Roosevelt’s face but thousands were missing the letter P.
Michael Leven, the owner of Bucks County Rare Coin in Sellersville, revealed there were about 150,000 coins that had been produced.
He revealed the value of a dime differed greatly depending on if it had been in circulation, per The Reporter.
Leven estimated the value of the rare 1982 dime in circulation would be below $100.
But those that had not entered circulation could be valued at up to $1,000.
Another collector sold a stash of coins dating back to 1878 for thousands of dollars despite thinking they were low-grade.
Rare coins
You may be holding something valuable in your wallet. Check out these articles on rare coins to see if you may have a treasure hidden deep in your pockets.
