A Father and Son Discover Viking Treasure Worth £1 Million And Their Lives Are Never the Same
A father and son in Yorkshire, England loved to grab their metal detectors and hit the fields every weekend. For six years, they never found anything substantial beyond buttons and scraps of metal. But one day in January 2007, their lives and the lives of British historians changed forever.
What looked like a single silver coin in the mud turned out to be a much larger treasure. See what they discovered, and how it forever altered modern perception of Anglo-Saxon Vikings.
A Normal Day Of Metal Detecting
In 2007, David Whelan and his son Andrew went metal detecting in their hometown of North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. For years, the two of them spent their weekends metal detecting together.
David Whelan had been metal detecting for six years. Together, he and his son had explored numerous fields, farms, and beaches around the United Kingdom. On a Saturday morning in January, they ventured into an open field in Harrogate.
It Felt Like An Unlucky Day
Andrew had initially felt unlucky when the two drove out to the countryside. The owners of two farms turned them away, and they argued with each other before they visited their "last resort," Harrogate.
The Whelans had scoured Harrogate field many times before, and only found a couple of scraps of metal and 90 buttons. They scavenged the muddy, deeply plowed area for hours and found nothing. Still, they decided to continue.
The Buzzer Goes Off
As fate would have it, their metal detectors caught a signal. Thrilled, David and Andrew picked up their shovels and began digging. After a little while, they received a stronger signal coming from the metal detector.
"I just kept digging," David Whelan, age 60, said later in an interview. "A ball of earth rolled out to the side of the hole, and I could see a coin stuck in it."
Their First Finding
The father and son had unearthed a silver coin. The coin was large and muddy and clearly didn't belong to British currency. "We knew it was something big," Andrew Whelan said, "and we were shaking with excitement as we lifted it out."
They could have stopped there. The coin alone was more than they had ever found after years of metal detecting. But for some reason, Andrew and David decided to continue digging in that same spot.
There's More In Store
What lied beneath beat their wildest dreams. When they dug further, they found far more coins-- 617, to be exact-- along with a ring, pins, lumps of raw silver, and a decorated cup. David and Andrew knew that they had discovered something bigger than themselves.
"It's a thing of dreams to find something like this,' said Andrew, 35, after his discovery. "If we had found one coin we would have been over the moon."
...Now What?
David and Andrew understood that they had discovered something substantial, but didn't know what exactly they had found. The father and son duo dug all that they could see out of the hole and drove it back home to Leeds.
In accordance with British law, they couldn't keep the goods for themselves. Under the Treasure Act of 1996, they had to report any historically significant finding to the Coroner's Office.
Now, The Experts Determine What It's Worth
David and Andrew understood that their discovery had historical significance, and opted to tell officials. They left the ancient treasure on their kitchen table and drove to a local Coroner's office to report the discovery.
The Coroner sent the items to the British Museum, where experts would write a report about the artifacts. Based on that, the Coroner would determine how much the treasure was worth. It took several months for David and Andrew to hear back.
So What Did They Discover?
After examining the artifacts, conservators and historians determined that the treasure belonged to a Viking king, who had brought it over to Anglo-Saxon England to bury his goods in the early tenth century.
The items dated back to the tenth century, and curator Bill Ager believes that the king buried them in 927 for safekeeping. That makes the treasure, most of which made out of solid gold and silver, over 1,000 years old.
Okay, But How Much Is It Worth?
Although Vikings owned the treasure, the actual objects came from outside countries and dated back to the ninth century. Coins, rings, armbands, necklaces, and cups made from both silver and gold each added a sum to the collection.
The entire hoard comes out to £1,082,000, or $1,376,574. The cup alone is estimated to be worth over £200,000, or $254,450. It's more than the father and son could ever dream of.
Who Gets The Cut?
The British Museum wanted this treasure to go on display. However, a judge determined that they would have to buy it first. The British Museum had to team up with the York Museum trust to raise enough money to buy the treasure.
After two years of fundraising, the museums finally bought the set for over £1 million. Half of the sums went to the owners of Harrogate field. The rest went to David and Andrew.
But Who Was The Original Owner?
Conservators believe that the treasure once belonged to the Anglo-Saxon King Athelstan, who once conquered the kingdom of Northumbria, which encompassed modern-day northern England and southeast Scotland. Historians believe that he either amassed the goods through trade or looted them.
In 927, Northumbria fell into unrest. Historians believe that Athelstan initially buried the treasure here for safekeeping, but due to the uprisings, could not return to bring his expenses with him.
The Biggest Discovery In Over 150 Years
"It's an extremely exciting find, not just because it is the biggest and best for 150 years," said Barry Ager, curator for European historical artifacts of the British Museum. The last European discovery on this scale dates back to 1840 when the Cuerdale hoard was discovered in Lancashire.
"The fact that the items come from all over the world shows the huge extent of the Vikings' commercial links," Ager expands. Now, we know much more about the Vikings.
Starting With The Hundreds Of Silver Coins...
The Whelans couldn't discern the coin designs due to the mud. Experts who safely cleaned the coins noticed that each one had a unique, intricate design. They also discovered a small incision in each coin, which means that the Vikings tested the silver before molding it.
One of the coins bears the Latin inscription Rex Totius Britanniae, meaning "King of All Britain." This 927 AD coin is the earliest sign of a Britain honoring one ruler.
How About That Cup?
The five-inch silver cup features roundels inscribed with several animals. Crafted in the early ninth century in modern-day France, the cup was likely used in church services. Experts dug out even more unique coins from inside this cup.
These coins differed from the rest in that they included new, rare designs and metal work. These breakthrough artifacts tell historians that the Vikings worked with far more mints in early Britain than they previously thought.
These Artifacts Came From All Over The World
Although the entire hoard belonged to King Athelstan, the craftsmen originated from other countries. Along with the French cup, the coins came from Afghanistan, Baghdad, and Samarkand. Historians also discovered a fragment of a Russian ring and an Irish armband.
These findings suggest that Vikings had a farther range of international connections than we previously assumed. Historians believe that King Athelstan received these goods through trading or looting. As it turns out, Viking artifacts found in Yorkshire is nothing new.
Since When Were Vikings In Britain?
Since the eighth century, Viking communities have seized areas of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England. Their invasions were so frequent that Christian monasteries had a hard time implementing their religion as the Vikings ushered in Pagan traditions every century.
In 865, Danish Vikings invaded England. Their fight for control spanned several years, but eventually, the Vikings won and ruled the area under The Danelaw. In the ninth century, Norweigan Vikings conquered Scotland and the Isle of Man and Wales. These two instances sparked the Anglo-Saxon ruling of England.
Yorkshire Has A Long History Of Vikings
"I'm delighted that such an important Viking hoard has been discovered in North Yorkshire," stated coroner Geoff Fell. "We are extremely proud of our Viking heritage in this area."
Vikings ruled the area of Yorkshire from 850 to 1016. York contains several historical sites that were touched by the Vikings, including the Ripon Cathedral, Castleford, Fulford, and Clifford's Tower and Baile Hill. In 2012, DNA testing proved that York citizens' lineage is remarkably more Norse than anywhere else in Britain.
No, There's Nothing Else In That Field
The Whelans refuse to disclose the part of the field where they discovered the hoard. They say they have returned there many times after finding the Viking artifacts, but located nothing else of value. All artifacts of the treasure seem to have been dug up.
Since Yorkshire has deep roots in Viking history, it makes sense that treasure could appear in one of its fields. And yes, the hoard has legally been declared a treasure.
The Whelan's Selflessness Benefits Everyone
David and Andrew Whelan could have kept the treasure themselves, but they didn't. They turned it in and sold it to the British Museum, where thousands of people can gaze upon the riches and learn new historical facts.
"I commend David and Andrew Whelan for their prompt and responsible reporting of this hugely significant find, which will enrich our understanding of the Vikings," said Margaret Hodge, Culture minister of the British Museum.
The Harrogate Hoard Goes On Display
The Harrogate Hoard, as the treasure was originally called, went on display in the Yorkshire Museum in York in 2007. Afterward, it went to the British Museum, where it was renamed the Vale of York Hoard. Thousands of people got to see the treasure David and Andrew Whelan found in person.
For those who can't visit the museum, BBC 4 featured the discovery in their series "A History of the World in 100 Objects."
