A “piggy bank” found on the British Isle of Man contained a large amount of chopped silver.
In Britain, retired police officer Kath Giles discovered a Viking treasure with valuable contents on the Isle of Man. It contained 87 silver coins, 13 cut pieces, chopped silver and several artifacts.
Numismatist Kristin Bornholdt Collins suggests that the chopped silver was used for international trade.
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“In this sense, it was a modern-day equivalent to a cryptocurrency — we might even say it was something like the original ‘Bitcoin’,” said Collins.
The treasure was found quite by accident using a metal detector. However, researchers have already declared it a “treasure”, since the coins were minted not only on the Isle of Man, but also in Ireland, England and on the territory of modern Germany.
“Like our modern-day coins, many have an image of the monarch. Meanwhile, the hack-silver chucks were part of a flexible system of payment, where the value depended on the weight and purity of silver,” the researchers said.
The coins date back to 1035 and show the variety of currencies available to a merchant in the Irish Sea or Maine during this period.
The artifact is currently on display in the new Viking gallery at the Isle of Man Museum.