DÆLI Dæli in Nes, Hedmark One day in May 1840, while he was removing a pile of rocks, Anders Andersen discovered a hoard of nearly 5000 coins and some jewellery on his farm. This is the largest coin hoard known to have been discovered in Norway. Most of the coins were small, paper-thin bracteates; twenty to a gram. The bracteates bore no inscriptions indicating the issuing authority, but a few double-sided coins had legends acknowledging Sverre Sigurdsson (1177-1202).

The most recent coin in the Dæli hoard was probably minted for Archbishop Ludolf of Magdeburg (1194-1209). Therefore, we have conclusive evidence that the hoard was deposited after 1194.  The small, paper-thin bracteates with a letter of the alphabet as their motif make up a significant part of the find. These coins, totalling more than 993, each bear one of the letters: A, B, C, G, H/h, K, M, m, N, S, T, V. There have been many speculations as to the meaning of these letters. Some have suggested that they are the first initials of kings, others have suggested that they might have had a mystic symbolism. So far, no satisfactory explanation has been offered that accounts for all the letters.

Above: Bracteates from Sverre Sigurdsson Good citizen that he was, Anders Andersen turned the hoard over to the authorities. The coins and jewellery were purchased by the University of Oslo Coin Cabinet, while the finder was permitted to keep the silver bullion weighing nearly 300 grams. The Dæli find is Norway's biggest medieval coin hoard, and has provided most of what we know about the history of Norwegian coins at the time of King Sverre.