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There
have been many coin finds in Oslo. Hoards, church finds and a number of
stray finds from the Viking age, the Middle Ages and more recent history
have been discovered during excavations in Gamlebyen (the "old city") with
metal detectors, or accidentally. Below we present two of these many finds.
In 1908, 40 coins were found two meters from the banks of the Lo river, east of Saksegården, a building in Gamlebyen. The coins included 37 English sterlings (1272-1377), two Scottish sterlings (1249-1370) and one German witten (1379-1387). The find was buried after 1379. In 1935, three pennies from Håkon V Magnusson (1299-1319) were found at Justisplassen (the "justice square") at Galgeberg in Oslo, during the construction of a new building. According to the finder, the coins were found inside a cranium encountered approximately 80 cm underground. This suggests that the coins were deposited along with the dead body, perhaps to ensure that the departed had sufficient funds to pay the ferryman for the crossing over the river Styx to the realm of the dead. In medieval times, Galgeberg was the site of a gallows and a pillory. King Sverre fought the clerical opposition at Galgeberg in 1197, and this was also where Duke Skule assembled his army to battle with Håkon Håkonsson in 1240.. |
