Coins and Coin Finds in Finland AD 800-1200

Finds of Oriental and European silver coins form a conspicuous, yet elusive, element in the archaeological material of the ninth-twelfth centuries in the Northern lands. In Finland the contrast between the handful of coins from the pre-Viking period and the seven thousand coins from the Viking Age is striking, but compared with the finds from Sweden and Russia, the material is very modest. This, however, does not diminish its importance from Finland's point of view. The number of coins acquired by Finnish museums from finds made in the present area of Finland is now slightly more than 7000. There is also information on perhaps a thousand other coins that have been dispersed or melted down during the past two or three hundred years.