A Norwegian man recently came forward and revealed that he found some medieval coins as a child and hid them for 60 years.
Jan Gunnar Fugelsnes told Mor og Romsdal county officials that he discovered the coin in 1964 while venturing with his brother under the floorboards of the Edoy church.
The boys crawled under the floor of a church hollowed out by Nazi soldiers to store ammunition during World War II. Fugelsnes, who described his underground adventure as a “treasure hunt,” took home 14 silver coins.
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“He neatly packed them into a yellow Kodak slide box and stored them there until the fall of 2023,” the county’s website explained.
Jan Gunnar Fugelsnes told officials from Norway’s More og Romsdal county municipality that he and his brother found the ancient coin on a “treasure hunt” when they were children. (Karl Fredrik Var Hansen Wemstad/Romsdal County Municipality)
Fugelsnes said he had no idea how old the coins were at the time. Archaeologists believe the coin dates to the Middle Ages, according to a press release translated into English.
“We were just kids looking for treasure under the church. We didn’t realize how rare the coins were,” Fugelsnes explained. “On this day, we also found three metal fittings, one amber pearl, and nine needles.”
“I think the coin could be from a collection that may have merged with the church at some point in the past,” he added. “After all, Edo Church has been on fire several times.”
Karl Fredrik Var Hansen Wemstad, archaeologist for More og Romsdal County, said some of the coins date back to the 13th century.
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Some of the coins are believed to date from the reign of Magnus VI in the 13th century. (Karl Fredrik Var Hansen Wemstad/Romsdal County Municipality)
Some of the coins are thought to date from the reign of Magnus VI, King of Norway until 1280. The “newer” coins in the collection date back to the reign of Christian I, who ruled Norway from 1450 to 1481.
“The location of the discovery and the composition of the coins and items suggest that they may have come from a burial mound placed under the floor of a church during the Middle Ages, approximately 1200 to 1300. ” said Vemestad.
The needle is thought to date from the 13th century and may have been part of the corpse’s clothing. The amber beads were probably from prayer wreaths. Vemstad called the items “incredibly rare.”
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Thanks to the country’s cultural heritage law, the coin is now in the possession of the Norwegian government. (Karl Fredrik Var Hansen Wemstad/Romsdal County Municipality)
“Elsewhere in central Norway, there are literally only a handful of coins like this that have survived to modern times,” Vemestad said. “The coins give a unique insight into the medieval period of Edui.”
In Norway, coins produced before 1650 are considered government property unless they were in private ownership before 1905.
Therefore, Mr. Fugelsnes handed over the coin to the More og Romsdal County Municipality, where it will be kept for many years to come.
“We are very pleased that Mr. Jan Gunnar has allowed us to take over these coins so that we can store them in a safe manner and secure them for the future,” Vemestad said. .
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Archaeologist Karl Fredrik Var Hansen Vemestad holds up a medieval coin in a photo released by the Norwegian county government. (Karl Fredrik Var Hansen Wemstad/Romsdal County Municipality)
Fox News Digital has contacted the More og Romsdal County Municipality for comment.
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