PREVIEW: IRON AGE COINS, ANCIENT COINS & ANTIQUITIES 18 JULY

A Viking artefact used as a die for creating ornamentation is expected to fetch £16,000-24,000 at Noonans’ 18 July auction after being unearthed in a Norfolk field.

Jason Jones, aged 44, bought a metal detector for his son Rio’s 15th birthday four years ago and within a few weeks the whole family including his two daughters Ela and Lia were detecting every weekend. 

 

The family were out detecting in January this year when they made the extraordinary find.

As Jason explained: “On January 29th of this year, my wife Lisa and I were searching on a field in Norfolk which had produced two Medieval silver coins on a previous visit. I had forgotten to charge my main detector, so had to use my backup machine, an older Minelab Vanquish 540.

“I returned to the area where the coins were found and got a loud signal, and at a depth of just 2 inches found an unusual bronze object, Lisa came over and was speechless when she saw it. Neither of us had any idea what it could be, but that evening after posting a picture on Facebook we realised it was Viking in date and notified the local Archaeologist to have it recorded.”

Nigel Mills, Specialist (Coins and Artefacts) at Noonans explained: “The object is a die of Pressblech type which is 14 centimetres in length and tapers from 3.2 -2.6 centimetres in width and weighs 186 grams with the design on one side in high relief.

“This is an intricate 11th century Urnes style ornamentation possibly representing the world tree Yggdrasil, a gigantic ash, with the monstrous serpent Nidhogg intertwining within its roots. At the bottom is a fleur-de-lys, symbolising purity, which appears to form the tail of the serpent.”

A variety of animals lived in the tree including a squirrel, Ratatosk, who ran up and down the trunk conveying messages between the serpent and an eagle who lived in the top branches. Other serpents gnawed at the roots, causing hardship.

“The die would have been used to make a stamped foil of thin metal which would display the pressed-out image. From its find spot, the date and design it is possible that the die was used on a Viking iron helmet to make ornamentation to the cheek guards,” said Nigel Mills, who
noted a curve to the die suggesting it was not mounted on a flat surface – further evidence of it being used for cheek guards.

Similar dies would have been used to decorate the cheek guards of the 7th century Sutton Hoo helmet.